Private Playtoy
by Lily272
Summary: One night, a few years after he finished high school, Seto Kaiba sees Joey Wheeler standing on a street between a few other hookers. And now he wants to buy, sorry hire, his own private playtoy. But why and what will Joey do?
1. Chapter 1

**Private Playtoy**

**Chapter 1**

Joey looked at his watch. It was getting late and he wondered with a sigh if he would find another guy or girl to get some money. He hated the life he was living but there wasn't a way around it. Not unless he wanted to become a burden to some of his friends and he hated that thought even more. Joey leaned against a wall and closed his eyes for a second to rest. It was long past midnight and he had already nearly all the money he needed for the rent he needed to pay the next day. But only nearly. His father had found where he stored his money the night before and still not returned from the drinking spree he must have started again.  
>Three months staying sober, it had been a new record for the old man. Joey wondered if his father was home again he must have spent all the money in a bar somewhere by now.<p>

Joey gave another sigh and opened the top of his plain bottomed red shirt that he was wearing with his black denim pants that were ripped at some parts. In his business he needed to show off his body since it was all Joey had to offer now. He had still had a proper job as a waiter but it hardly covered the rent he needed to pay for the dump he was forced to call his home. One time when his father had stolen his hard earned money to get drunk again, leaving Joey too short to pay the rent for the third month in a row they had been close to lose the roof over their head. Not that it was a good one to begin with, every time it rained Joey had to put buckets all over the place to catch the water that came in but it was better than no roof at all. Joey was in trouble that time and just then some guy had talked him up at work. Some rich guy that was out with his wife and looking for some fun had offered him money to come to a hotel later. Joey had needed the money and even though he had known that he would regret it he went to the hotel and met the guy. That was two years ago now and still Joey remembered that guy and that day. He still remembered the taste he got from throwing up multiple times after he was out of that place. He had managed to keep that down till he was alone but only just about. He felt dirty and used and simply terrible but he had money. Not enough for a whole month´s rent but close. The guy must have talked because not two days later another man talked to Joey with the same request, offering the same amount of money. Together it was just enough to pay the rent. Joey still wouldn't know how to get food but he started to hope that someone would get him that, too.

That was how it had started and by now Joey was getting much too used to this. He went out on the street more nights than he liked, getting a bit of extra money by selling his body to some random stranger. He saved some of it, hoping that if his father ever got sober he could have enough money to maybe go to a college even if it was a bit late. He still wanted to make something more of himself and that hope was all that kept him going through the nights where he had to sell his body. Unfortunately his father always found his savings eventually and everything was gone and he needed to start all over again. He even would get behind with the rent again if he didn't get at least one more guy, maybe two, depending on how rich they looked. If they looked rich enough Joey always raised the price, praying that they hadn't had some other guy some night before that was cheaper they might go to that one then and he lost the gamble. But Joey hated selling his body and at least wanted to get as much out of it as he could.

Joey looked up and down the street but it was quiet. At least he had paid the rent for the last few months on time. Maybe he could afford to be late a few days and thought about going home. There might still be some guys passing later after a few drinks in a night club but many of those were rather rough and the last one already had been painful enough and Joey wasn't sure if he could take another one like that in one night.

He was just about to leave when a huge limousine drove around the corner and stopped close to Joey. A man walked out from the front, he obviously wasn't the owner of the car rather some security guy that followed that rich basterd around. Someone who earned a lot of money keeping his bosses secrets to himself. The windows of the limousine were tainted of course and Joey couldn't see inside but he was sure that whoever was in it was some big shot guy who couldn't afford being seen here. And that meant Joey could spick the price even more. A bit for his body and a bit of money to stay quiet about it. Of course he would say that after he knew who was inside, if he didn't know the guy he would stay quiet anyway, just in case it wasn't a politician or something like that but rather some mafia boss.

"How much?" The man in a black suit with black sunglasses asked.

"100 dollar the hour." Joey said boldly hoping that it wasn't too cocky but tried to smile like he was at least worth that much if not more.

"Get in." The man said and opened the door to the back. Joey went in and heard the man repeat the price to his boss.

Joey sat down and looked at the other. He couldn't see him clearly since it was very dark inside and the others face was hidden by shadows but Joey got a strange feeling that he should make a run for it. The posture the other was holding his slender body in was somehow familiar.

The man who was sitting across from Joey was wearing a completely black tight fitting outfit. Something white that might be a coat was folded up next to him on the seat. His arms were crossed over his chest and Joey wasn't sure what he should do. He didn't look like he wanted Joey to move closer, not the way he was crossing his arms. "Hey sweetie." Joey said, trying to sound cheerful to lighten the mood.

"Don't you dare call me sweetie." The cold voice said and that too sounded familiar. Maybe he was some sort of famous politician that shouldn't be with a whore.

"Sorry." Joey said, still trying to sound happy "What do you want me to call you then?"

It was quiet for a moment and Joey wondered what he was supposed to do until the other uncrossed his arms and said "Just stay quiet and come over." Joey did as he was told, he moved over at first trying to sit next to the other but got pulled onto his lap and didn't even try to refuse that. He got paid after all and needed to satisfy the guy to get the money, no matter how strange he was. Joey felt the other move an arm around his waist while his other hand moved along his back inside of his pants in seconds. One of his fingers was pressed inside of Joey within moments and Joey tried to think of the guy he loved to have an easier time pretending he liked this man´s touch. Joey closed his eyes and tried to picture the brown hair that sticks of in every direction, his stormy blue eyes and the cocky smile. He pictured his hot body covered by his usual biker outfit. "Look at me." The cold voice of the man that was with him in reality broke through and Joey opened his eyes to look into the dark where the others face was hidden. "Move." The other ordered, sounding much too cold for Joey's taste. He did as he was ordered though. The finger stayed in the same position and now that Joey moved it he could feel it more clearly. He kept looking at the unyielding dark, still trying to think of the stormy blue eyes of the guy he loved long before he started to sell his body to some random strangers.

They turned onto a nicer street where the street was lit much better and when they passed the first street light Joey saw blue eyes staring back at him. But not the stormy blue eyes he had imagined. Those were colder and the brown hair much too smooth, this wasn't his Valon, this was his worst nightmare. Joey was currently feeling Seto Kaiba's finger in him. He could feel himself pale but tried to pretend like nothing had changed at all. Kaiba would never touch him if he knew his name, he was sure of that. Joey refused to let Kaiba know who he was and to do that he had to hide his anti-sympathy he felt towards the CEO who had picked a fight with him and looked down on him during his entire time in high school.

"Who were you thinking of just now?" Kaiba asked in the same cold voice.

"No one." Joey mumbled feeling his blood go into his cheeks.

"Don't you dare lie to me." Kaiba said and moved his finger in Joey, touching the spot that made Joey feel like electricity was going through his body. Joey couldn't help but moan a little. Surprised how easy Kaiba had found that spot. "Now let's try again. Who were you thinking of?"

Joey looked into those ice blue eyes and though what he could say without having to say the truth. "I thought of how good your finger feels." Joey mumbled hoping it would please that jerk and shut him up at the same time.

Joey saw a smug smile spread over Kaiba's face and was happy that he seemed to believe it. Joey felt the hand that was around his waist moving up to the back of his neck and felt his head being pulled closer to the CEO. Seto's lips got closer to his ear and he whispered "That lie was better, but don't think for a second that I'm foolish enough to believe it."

Joey could feel more blood rushing to his face. He felt Seto's lips on his neck and shoulder. Felt him nibble on his skin gently until he coaxed a moan out of the blond man on his lap. Joey felt him start to gently bite his skin and moved his head, trying to stop him before he could leave a mark. It would only cause him trouble finding a new client if that happened. "Don't move." He heard Kaiba whisper and felt his grip tighten at Joey's neck to keep him from moving away "I pay extra but don't move." Kaiba's voice sounded even colder while he whispered that but Joey did as he was told and allowed Kaiba to do as he pleased, leaving a mark causing Joey to moan even more. He enjoyed being kissed in that place much more than he thought possible. He felt the hand in his neck moving along his upper body, touching his naked skin under his shirt like it was searching for more places that drove him insane. Joey had never felt this way during sex. He had never had the feeling like someone was actually trying to pleasure him. Usually it was the other way around. His partner tried to get as much pleasure as possible, expecting Joey to give that to him without giving a damn about the blond man. But Kaiba´s hands were different, they were exploring Joey's skin in a different way even though Joey couldn't explain why it felt so different to him.

Joey closed his eyes again, confused by the feelings he got from Kaiba's hands and tried to think of Valon again. He tried to picture him like he had so many times before. "Look at me." He heard Kaiba's voice forcing him to open his eyes and look into his cold glare. How can anyone try to have sex and look that cold at someone. Joey looked right into Kaiba's death glare while still feeling his fingers in him and his skin tingling where he knew that Kaiba's lips had left a mark. "Look only at me," Kaiba whispered sounding much too seductive for the death glare that was still on his face. "Don't you dare to think of anyone else, only look at me."

_Of course he's the possessive kind of guy,_ Joey thought. But couldn't help but wonder why he was with him then. Why pay a whore for one night if he could have some good looking fan that was always drooling over him and do whatever he wanted more permanently. He could truly possess a fan while a whore would leave him again as soon as the night was over and the money paid.

The limousine stopped and Joey looked out of the tainted windows, seeing the huge mansion that belonged to the man with the cold eyes. Joey felt the finger being removed and slowly got up from the others lap. One of Kaiba's hands stayed on Joey's skin while they got out of the limousine and Kaiba moved it around Joey's waist and lead him gently towards the door and walked in with him. Joey was lead into Kaiba's bed room. Once inside he felt Kaiba pulling him closer and felt his lips on his own. He felt Kaiba's strong and cold hands unbutton his shirt and move it from his shoulders, letting it fall to the ground. Joey started to undress the other slowly, angry at his shaking hands that were giving away how nervous he felt around the cold CEO.

Once the shirt was gone Kaiba looked at the now half naked man in his arms "Who was that?" Kaiba asked, his cold voice layered with anger while his fingers brushed over a fading bruise Joey had gotten a few nights before.

"It's nothing." Joey lied, feeling the blush that never seemed to leave his face darkening again.

"I don't like it when someone lies to my face." Kaiba said icily. "And I didn't ask what it is since I can see that. I want to know WHO it was."

"No one in particular." Joey mumbled.

"Be honest." Kaiba ordered and pulled Joey close to his own body.

"I am honest." Joey said "It was just someone, I don't even remember his name."

He saw the ice cold blue eyes looking even more angry now and heard him mumble "Such a waste." He felt Kaiba's hands moving gently over the bruise while his eyes seemed to examine Joey's skin, taking in every fading bruise as well as the scars he had which mainly came from one of his fathers angry moods when Joey couldn't give him money for booze. There weren't many but Kaiba's eyes seemed to find even the smallest one. His fingers moved over each fading bruise and every one of his scars, gently touching Joey's slightly tanned skin.

Joey tried to ignore the feeling Kaiba's hand left on his skin and continued to slowly undress the man in front of him. He felt himself being pulled even closer to the other man and his lips touched his skin where he already had left a mark again. Another moan escaped Joey's lips and he automatically moved his head to give Kaiba more space to reach the sensitive spot on his neck. Joey had Kaiba completely undressed and gotten out of his shoes himself before the cold CEO opened Joey's pants and pulled them down. Once they were around Joey's feet Joey felt himself being lifted up, leaving his pants on the floor and Joey naked since he hadn't been wearing any underwear. Seto sat down on his bed, pulling Joey on top of him. "Don't dare to leave." Kaiba said "I'll pay you for the whole night but don't leave till I'm up, got it?" Joey gave a nod and tried to think about the man he wanted to be with again. ButKaiba stoped him soon after he tried to think of him again and for the first time even without being able to think about Valon Joey could still feel his body react to the other mans attention. Kaiba's hands moving over his body and his lips that were tasting his skin was enough.

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><p>Authors note:<p>

Just to warn you, Kaiba will look really mean and nasty at parts but he isn't really and the reasons for his nastiness will be explained at the end of the story.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The sun was long up by the time Joey woke up in the huge bed of the cold CEO he had spent the last night with. Kaiba was already awake, Joey felt his hands on his own body. He was surprisingly gentle and it had been the first time with a man where he didn't need the thought of Valon to come. It was embarrassing to him that Kaiba's hands and lips had made him moan and that feeling of Kaiba inside of him, while feeling his hands on his body, had been enough to make him come. He never thought that anyone but Valon could make his body react in such a way but there hadn't been a single moment where Joey could think about Valon. Every time he tried to think of him Kaiba had told him to look into his eyes and those eyes made it impossible to think of Valon. Those eyes that had looked cold at the start but gotten lustful, seductive and unbelievably soft while Joey had gotten closer to reach his orgasm. like the ice was melting to some degree.

Now he looked into the blue eyes that once again where nothing but cold and hard while watching his every move. He slowly got up and reached out his hands to get his pants. But before he could reach them Kaiba grabbed his wrist and pulled it back.

"I didn't say that you could leave already." Kaiba said, his voice cold like always.

"You only said I had to stay till you're awake and you are, so give me my money and let me go." Joey said. He'd been with Kaiba for long enough and should get enough money for the rent at least, he hadn't looked at the time yet but he'd probably get enough to buy some food for a few days as well if not weeks and he would need to get to his his job as a waiter which he still had, too.

"I don't care. I want you to stay." Kaiba said.

"Well tough luck, I can't." Joey said.

"Why not?" Kaiba asked, not letting go of Joey's wrist.

"I've got a job. I need to go." Joey said and tried to free himself of Kaiba's iron grip.

"You're not going to run of to the next guy." Kaiba said sounding angry.

"It's none of your business." Joey said. "Let go of me and deal with it."

"Forget it." Joey heard him say and felt himself being pushed with his back onto the bed. Kaiba was holding his hands over his hand onto the bed and sat on his hip so fast that Joey couldn't even start fighting back.

"Let go of me." Joey said, starting to struggle against the other who was strong and had the upper hand but Joey still was giving him a hard time holding him down.

"No." Kaiba said "I won't let just someone bruise and scar your skin again."

Joey looked surprised but remembered the possessiveness Kaiba had already shown the night before over and over by not letting him think of anyone but him. "It's none of your business and now let me go before I'm running late or I swear I´ll make you regret it."

"No." Kaiba said again "You'll stay until I say otherwise."

Great, Joey thought, possessive and a control freak. I've hit a jackpot. "Let me freaking go." Joey said, still struggling against the other.

Kaiba's phone rang and he moved one of Joey's hands under the other arm and pushed that one down even harder to stop him from getting away while having one hand free to answer his phone. "Finally." He said once he had picked up while still holding on to the struggling Joey. "What took you so long?"

"Let go of me" Joey said and started to struggle even harder to free at least one of his hands and managed after a moment, while Seto was listening to whoever was calling him. No one can hold down Joey Wheeler with one hand and he would teach Kaiba that the hard way.

Joey was just about to punch Kaiba when he heard him ask "What time does Joey's next shift start?" Joey froze and stared at the brunet guy who was releasing his other hand but still sat on his hips. "That was all? Get moving and find out more." Kaiba said before he ended the call and put the phone aside and looked at Joey again. "You could have told me what job you meant."

"You knew?" Joey asked surprised.

"If I'd known I wouldn't have tried to hold on to you." Kaiba said.

"The job isn't what I meant." Joey said looking away the blush returning to his face.

Joey felt the cold eyes still on his face, while he still looked away and then heard the other chuckle. "Don't tell me you thought I didn't know who you are." Joey's blush darkened further, still looking away from the other. "So you're working as a waiter in a restaurant, right? And your shift starts soon."

"I need to go, so get off of me and give me my money, got it?" Joey said trying to free himself again.

"Chill, I´ll get you there in time but first you'll promise me to come back here right after that." Seto said.

"Forget it." Joey said. "I don't want to."

"You need money for your father, right?" Kaiba said "To keep him fed and keep a roof over your heads while he is drunk more often than not."

"It's none of your business and now let me get up and stop spying on me." Joey said, starting to wonder if the money was worth the trouble he was getting himself into.

"It will be my business." Kaiba said "I´ve got an offer you'll find very hard to refuse."

"What offer?" Joey asked sceptically.

"Like I said, you need money for your father and yourself and since you never managed to afford college and have gotten kicked out of a few jobs for being constantly late or missing all together, you only got the one bad paying part time job you have now in some cheap restaurant, right?" Kaiba said.

"Thanks for summoning that up." Joey said sarcastically. "But that isn't an offer you jerk."

"I´ll get you a job." Kaiba said.

"What kind of job?" Joey asked.

"You can keep that waiter job but you also will live here and do whatever I want." Kaiba said with a smug smile "You'll be my private little play toy that won't let anyone touch him but me."

"You've got to be kidding me." Joey said and struggled to get away from under the taller man.

"Listen Joey." Kaiba said holding on to him with more force again. "We make a contract for one year. During which I'll pay all of your expenses. If you want to go to community college, fine I'll pay if you and you want to go to a party take a credit card from me. Whatever you want just name it but no one will be allowed to touch you but me!"

"What about my father? I can't just abandon him." Joey said. "And I need to go, I'll be late and then I can forget that job."

"I pay for his necessary expenses, too." Kaiba offered. "He'll have a paid for roof over his head and one that won't leak whenever it rains. He'll have a full fridge and enough fitting clothing. Just no money, so he won't be able to buy alcohol."

"That's all?" Joey asked. "Because I doubt that it is worth spending more time with you than absolutely necessary. If I wasn't as tight with money as I was last night, I wouldn't even be here. I've got my standards and your not making the cut."

Joey saw the anger flare in the others eyes much stronger than usual and was surprised since Kaiba never seemed to care, so why could he hurt him with those words when it was confusing to get such an offer from Kaiba in the first place? Kaiba must really love looking down on him to treat him that way. "Name a price you want me to pay by the end of the year and I will." Seto said "No matter what price. One million or maybe two?"

Joey stared. Two million would be enough to pay for more tuition for college and his father wouldn't be able to afford any alcohol for over a year, meaning that he might stay away from the alcohol for longer. All his problems could be solved if he accepted that deal but it also meant that he would be Kaiba's toy for one entire year! That Kaiba would use him and look down on him and do whatever he wanted with his body for a whole year. "What did you mean with no one will be allowed to touch me? Can't I even hug my pals because no one can stop me from that, especially not you! I won't stay away from them for all the money in the world."

"Fine. Hug whoever you want. All but one." Kaiba said and Joey looked questioningly, surprised that there would be one exception and wondered who that would be and why. "You won't touch Valon at all."

"Why him?" Joey asked. He hardly saw him as it was since Valon and Mai where constantly on the move, loving the adventure of exploring the world.

"Do you really think that I'm stupid?" Kaiba asked. "I saw the way you looked at him. Most of your friends think that you've got a thing for Mai, right? But I doubt it. The way you look at her is the same way you look at Serenity. But you still can't stand seeing her with Valon. Not because he has her, it's because she has him, isn't it?"

Joey stared. No one had figured that out yet. Even Yugi and Serenity thought that he loved Mai and he never said they were wrong. He never said that he didn't love her either but the fact that he wouldn't answer to such questions had only encouraged their believes. It had saved him from admitting who he really loved. "You hardly see him anyway, right?" Kaiba said. "So it shouldn't be too hard not to touch him at all. Not to even give him your hand if you see him. No touch or no money, but like I said. You'll most likely won't see him anyway."

Joey looked at Seto again and was visibly tempted by the offer. It meant he wouldn't have to stand by the street hoping that the next guy wouldn't hit him. Praying that it wasn't some psychopathic killer. Physically he would be safer with Kaiba but emotionally might be a different matter. His father might be a drunken guy who might beat Joey if he was getting too drunk and didn't have more money. But since Joey was about 14 he was stronger and better with fighting and the scars were all from long before that time. And his father might say mean things then but the knowledge that it is only because of his addiction was taking most of the sting out of those words. It won't be the same with Kaiba, who was sure to look down upon him and probably will start playing mind games just to have fun with him. That must be the only reason to offer that at all. To play with him and destroy him in the process. Why else should he care about keeping him around anyway?

Still the money and all the other things were a lot for Joey and to get a few millions after that was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Joey knew he had to think about it fast. He had to go to his job, especially if he chose to say no. But even if he said yes, he still wanted to keep the position, the one normal part in his life. The one place where no one but a few of the guests knew about his secret life at night nor about the beatings he had gotten as a child. There weren't many of those normal places left. And if he lost it he would get a hard time explaining where the money came from. Even his friends knew that his father was drunk more often than not and that he had a hard time paying the rent for his run down one room apartment, without the job no one would believe him capable of doing that.

"Say yes and all your problems will be solved, Joey." Kaiba said sounding much too seductive, considering how cold his voice had been a few times while having sex. "After one year with me you'll have a bank account with a million or two. You'll have it all. The apartment of your father will be big enough for you too and you can get whatever you want. Just one word and you'll get it all."

What exactly would you want me to do?" Joey asked just to make sure that there wouldn't be any surprises if he agreed to this.

"Nothing big." Kaiba said "Just that your body is mine. And mine alone. I want to be able to sleep with you whenever I want to. I want to be allowed to touch you and kiss you whenever and wherever. That is all that I really want but, it would be easier if everyone would believe that you're my boyfriend but I'll leave that for you to choose. Maybe you can think of another excuse why you live with me and share a bed with me and will let me kiss you whenever I want to do that."

"No games?" Joey asked.

"What sort of games?" Kaiba asked, sounding much too innocent for Joey's taste. He knew Kaiba would play some sort of mind game and he still wasn't sure if he should take that risk. Not that he was afraight of him but he would probably be a pain in the back.

"I'll think about it." Joey said and tried once more to get up. "But I need to go now or I'll be late for work and I don't want to be late for that. I will keep that job even if I work for you, too."

"You can work there." Kaiba said "But you'll have to choose if you want to work for me now. I don't see any reason why I should be patient. Take it or leave it but choose now."

Joey stared at him. "What if I want to get out of it before the year is up?" Joey asked just in case it would get too bad.

"Then you can go." Kaiba said. "I won't hold you against your will and I won't ask money back for what I paid, but you also won't get the money we agreed on. Even if you quit one day before the year is up. A whole year or no money."

Joey thought about it again. He knew he didn't have much time but at least he could still leave whenever it got too much and so he said "Fine, but only for three million. And don't you dare and try to play a mind game with me."

"Do you really think I would do that?" Kaiba asked "Now get dressed, I´ll drive you to work and pick you up. I'll get the contract ready to sign for after that and already get a new apartment for your father and make sure that he moves as well as get your stuff from there."

"I better come for that." Joey said "Dad will never believe a word you say."

"I make him believe." Kaiba said smugly.

"No." Joey said. "I'll talk to dad or the deal is off right away."

Joey saw that Kaiba didn't like that even though he still didn't understand why he even cared. "Fine." He said "Then I'll get everything ready today and we get the move done together tomorrow. And don't tell me you have to work. I already know your shift for this week. Oh and I'll have a security guy following you. Just for protection of course, since my fans might not like me having a guy staying at my place."

_Sure,_ Joey thought ironically _Just to protect me. Not at all to keep an eye on me or to make sure that I don't have a lover or something. No, he would never even think of that._ "Fine. I don't care." He simply said, knowing that there would be no way around it anyway if he wanted to get his money. "But don't take me for stupid I know you just want to keep an eye on me to make sure I don't run off with someone else."

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><p>Author's note:<p>

Thanks to silvers-edge, Rowan A.K.A , dancing elf, Nagareboshi-Lover, Jonouchi Katsuya, hizeezetoyou and lilgurlanima for the reviews.

And Jonouchi Katsuya wrote "Joey was victimized too much. I think Joey should go kick some tail." To everyone who agrees, I do too. He needs to kick ass, it's just more like him but like you see he isn't a total whimp who still gets beaten by his father. But he grew up, a few years have past after all and he isn't a teen anymore. He is more understanding and still very caring but he will still get on Kaiba's nerves with his spunk a couple of times. He won't lay down on the huge bed for a whole year and let Kaiba do what he wants. That would be too much to ask. He's still the same, just a bit more mature.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_I'm so going to regret this, I'm so going to freaking regret this._ Joey thought on his way back from work. But he had agreed and now was driving back to the Kaiba mansion. Why had he done that? Oh yes, right, he was going to get three million dollars if he managed to survive one year with Kaiba. And on top of that Kaiba was going to buy him everything he wanted and he sure as hell would try to get as much out of that rich bastard as he could. Joey already was thinking about what classes to take in college.

He also would get lots of jewels, he could sell those if he couldn't manage to survive that year and still have money. Joey was getting more and more nervous the closer he got to the mansion. A security guard from Kaiba was driving him back. Kaiba had driven him to work himself but the security guard had picked him up, informing him that Kaiba was still at work. Joey didn't mind that, he was happy that he still had a bit of time before he had to see the cold CEO.

Once he was in the mansion he stood in the hall by the door and wondered what he was supposed to do now. Was he even allowed to walk around the place or should he stay in Seto's bed since he obviously wanted sex from Joey. But was Joey even allowed to go into his bedroom without Kaiba? He could have something in some drawer that was private and that he didn't want Joey to see and might get mad if Joey just walked in.

Joey stood there and looked around the entrance hall. There were pictures around that place that looked valuable but old and dusty and Joey couldn't help but wonder if Kaiba ever wasted a single thought on the decoration of this place at all. His own room was obviously decorated with thought and he had his dragon for inspiration, that much was sure. "Would you like to eat something?" A maid suddenly asked.

Joey looked at her and said "No, thanks." Joey was hungry but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to eat whatever he wanted. But then again Kaiba had said he could get whatever he wanted and he would pay for it. "On second thought, I'd love to have some food. Maybe pizza or lasagne or even better, a huge tasty steak."

"Which one would you prefer?" The maid asked.

"You mean I can really choose?" Joey asked surprised, he had been hoping that they had at least one of the three things.

"Of course." The maid said. "Mr. Kaiba gave the order to give you whatever you desire, sir."

"Cool." Joey said and thought that the coming year might not be as bad as he had assumed at the start. "Get me a bit of all, please."

"Of course, Mr. Wheeler." She said politely, not even looking surprised about the request. "Would you also like something for dessert?"

"Sure." Joey said "I'd like bit of ice cream or pudding or whatever you have. Maybe a bit of all."

The maid lead Joey to the dining room. It took a little until the food was served but the taste was worth the wait. And the dessert was great, too. The maids served hot cherries and ice cream and pudding with vanilla sauce ant it all tasted heavenly. Joey was just finishing the last bit of pudding and felt incredibly stuffed when he heard a voice behind him "I see you already finished your dinner without waiting for me."

"You didn't say I had to wait." Joey said for his defence.

"I know. And it's fine, I had a business dinner with someone anyway." Kaiba said. "I hope you liked the food."

"It was fine." Joey said, unwilling to admit that he never had such great food.

"I'm glad you found it to your liking." Kaiba said and placed the tips of his fingers of one hand on Joey's right shoulder and started to move it slowly along his arm. "I want you to feel comfortable here."

Joey shivered and the comfortable feeling he had gotten during dinner was gone within seconds. He felt like a mouse that was caught by a very playful cat with no way of escaping alive. Kaiba took his hand and Joey stood up and followed Kaiba. Like a prisoner that was about to be executed. He was once more lead to Kaiba's bed room but this time the brunet man walked towards the desk that was in the room instead of the bed. "Sit." He ordered and placed a contract in front of Joey. "Sign."

Joey took the paper in his hands instead of the pen that was lying next to it. He read the contract, surprised about how detailed it was. Everything Kaiba had said was in it, like that he wouldn't get any money unless he stayed for one year straight. But to Joey's surprise it also said that he couldn't keep anything that was worth more than 100 dollar if he left before that time. Meaning his jewels plan was out. At least it said he wouldn't need to pay back money like for college fees or concerts he might like to visit. Even the security that would be provided by Kaiba was to be expected by Joey 24 hours a day was mentioned in it. The way it was written it wasn't easy to understand but at least Joey found a passage that clearly stated that he was free to leave the mansion whenever he pleased to see his friends, unless Kaiba asked for his 'services' at least a week in advance. There was also a huge passage about Joey's dad that described how Kaiba would have to take care of the old man and Joey was glad to see that Kaiba didn't leave out anything vital there.

It also stood in that contract that Joey wasn't allowed a 'sexual physical contact to anyone and no physical contact to Valon at all'. Joey also read a part that said 'Mr. Wheeler will have to do everything in his power to satisfy Mr. Kaiba's sexual needs whenever and wherever Mr. Kaiba requires those services.' _That's one way to write that I need to let him fuck my brains out._ Joey thought as he read that part. "Cut that wherever part." Joey said. "I'm not going to let you fuck me at some strange places."

"How would you like me to phrase it then?" Seto asked.

"How the hell would I know?" Joey said. "Just not wherever. I mean, I won't do it where we can get caught. And while ya get that changed put in that if you get bored of me and kick me out before the year is up ya still have to pay."

"I won't get bored." Kaiba said.

"Than you shouldn't worry about that, right?" Joey said. "But I want to be sure that I get the money and not that you kick me out a day before you have to pay and get away with that."

"Fine." Kaiba said and got his laptop ready to change the contract before he printed it out and passed it to Joey.

Joey was glad to see that the 'wherever' was change to 'at every reasonable place' which at least could then be discussed and that there was standing 'In case Mr. Kaiba ends the business relation with Mr. Wheeler prematurely, Mr. Wheeler will get the three million dollars as well as to keep every item no matter the value.' "Happy?" Kaiba asked "Now sign."

Joey could feel one of Kaiba's hand's starting to play with his hair in the back of his neck and knew that the second he would sign this paper he would have to let Kaiba fuck him again. It wasn't unpleasant the night before but Joey was still confused why Kaiba wanted to do that. Joey took a deep breath and tried to think of Valon one more time before he knew that Kaiba would stop him in his tracks whenever he could. He had done so last night all the time. Again and again telling him to look into his eyes to stop him from picturing the stormy blue ones and the wild brown hair of his Valon.

"Stop it." Joey heard Kaiba say. He clearly was angered and Joey started to wonder if he was a freaking mind reader that he noticed his thoughts going to Valon that quickly. "Either you read it and tell me what you want changed or you sign it now. If not I´ll rip it to shreds and you get nothing."

Joey looked at his eyes. Ice blue eyes, much colder than Valon's and his hair, even though it had the same colour, was much too tame for Joey's taste but there was no way around this deal. He could really use the money he would get and it was better than having to sleep around for money never knowing who the next guy would be and if it was really safe to go with him. Joey wouldn't be the first whore to disappear without a trace or be found dead in some gutter while no one really cared. His father might not even notice that he's missing till the old man gets kicked out of the cheap apartment. With one last sigh Joey signed the paper and wasn't surprised that Kaiba took the pen to sign it immediately and then he locked it away in a safe in his room. "There you go." Seto said after that and passed Joey a credit card. It even had Joey's name on it and the expiration date was one day after the year would be over. Joey stared at it for a moment. He had never owned a credit card and hadn't expected to get one now. He thought Kaiba would simply get him what he wanted if he asked, not that he could simply go and get it himself. "It has no limit, so you really can get whatever you want for yourself. But do me a favour and don't treat your friends to expensive gifts since you know that everything worth more than 100 dollar will need to be returned if you leave me ahead of time." Kaiba said.

"You mean I can really buy what I want? And what if I want to treat my friend to a movie and buy cinema tickets?" Joey asked and couldn't help but getting exited.

"No need to worry about those." Kaiba said with a smile. "I don't mind things like that, just don't go around giving away fancy sport cars."

"And if I give away cheap cars?" Joey asked, unable not to tease Kaiba a little.

Kaiba simply smiled his smug smile and answered. "If you know you'll get them back if you leave me, I wouldn't even object to fancy sports cars but I doubt you can guarantee that so the car would be really cheap. Like in less than 100 dollar cheap."

"Too bad." Joey said. "I always wanted a fancy sports car."

"If you give it back when needed," Seto said. "Go ahead and buy one. I said you'd get whatever you want and once one year has passed, you can keep it all."

"You don't think I can do it, right?" Joey said finally, thinking that he got the reasoning behind that strange offer. "You think you can get some cheap fucks by getting me to sign that and once you get bored of me you drive me away by picking fights with me or driving me insane otherwise."

"You really think that badly of me?" Kaiba said not at all sounding surprised "Well then let me tell you one thing. I have enough money to pay for everything, and nothing I own is cheap, so why should I bother going through all that trouble with a contract and helping your dad and paying the rent for him and all that if I just want cheap sex?"

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to Nagareboshi-Lover, hizeezetoyou, Rowan A.K.A , silvers-edge, HY, smuttytums, sherabo, lilgurlanima and AyaKagami for the review.

And by the way, the next few chapters will be mainly from Joey's perspective but there will be one from Seto's one as well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Joey was still half asleep when something started to annoy him greatly. Something small was going over his skin. Something like a big fly. He moved his hand to get rid of it and heard a chuckle. His eyes were still closed but the sound slowly sank into his mind, reminding him that he wasn't alone. And that the person with him was no one else than Seto Kaiba. He turned in bed and kept his eyes closed. He didn't want to get up today. He didn't need to go to his part time work as a waiter since it was his day off but he knew that for one year he also would have a full time job as Kaiba's little play toy and he wasn't exactly keen on starting that work right now. He had gotten off surprisingly easy so far since the night before Kaiba had only kissed him and then insisted on holding Joey in his arms while he fell asleep. It was a strange feeling to fall asleep in Kaiba's arms and took a long time till he felt comfortable enough. In some way it was worse than simply selling his body for money. It felt more intimate somehow. Probably just because sex wasn't as intimate for Joey for a long time now, seeing that he needed to do that for money. But falling asleep in Kaiba's arms was different. He hardly ever stayed a night with a 'customer', he usually would get paid and leave after the sex was over.

Once more Joey felt something touching his skin but this time he tried to ignore it completely. He feared that it wasn't a fly but rather Kaiba's finger trying to get him up for some play time. The fingers kept moving over his skin, making him more alert. Joey could feel the fingers playing at his neck where his lips had left a mark two nights ago. The first night he had stayed with him where he still was nothing but a whore and not his private little play toy. Joey felt his body react to the gentle touch once again, much more than he thought possible and than he liked to admit. He didn't want to have to do anything at the moment and thought about a way to get Kaiba out of the mood he seemed to be in, before he had to open his eyes. Unfortunately for Kaiba he got an idea that should work. He started to moan a little like the touch was getting to him in his sleep. Which apart from the asleep part was correct. Joey knew that so far he just was adding fuel to Kaiba's mood but that would soon end since Joey, who still pretended to be more or less asleep, pretended to sleep talk. And the word he more moaned in his pretended sleep then was "Valon".

"Wake up." Came the angry order from Kaiba and Joey felt himself being pushed a bit rough and opened his eyes to look around, pretending to be slightly confused about his whereabouts for a second.

"Morning." Joey said after a moment and stretched his tired body, arching his back a little in the process and said: "Why did you wake me? I had such a nice dream." He only said it while moving like that to make a point that Kaiba might be able to buy his body but never his heart. And just because he allowed Kaiba to get some fun out of him for money didn't mean that he could still mess a little with the guy.

"I noticed." Kaiba said sounding upset. "But you need to get dressed now. We have a lot to do and I have to get to work later on as well."

"What do we have to do?" Joey asked surprised that he wanted him to get dressed.

"I told you that I would get a better apartment for your father and you insisted to be the one to explain the situation to him." Kaiba explained. "And unless you changed your mind and I can go alone you´ll need to get dressed now."

Joey could see that Kaiba was thoroughly pissed about the little dream he faked and felt great that he managed to mess with the cold CEO's head. He got up though and started to get dressed since he didn't want to risk Kaiba going there alone. "How did you plan the move anyway? I mean we don't have much, so I doubt that we need more than one ride in a big car but your spots car won't have enough space and the limousine will be bit much for that area, which basically goes for your cars as well.

"I have a more plain one and I have two people with a van, each ready to move your dads stuff to the apartment and your things here." Kaiba said. "More importantly, will you tell him the truth how you got that apartment for him or not?"

"Never." Joey said. "He thought I was getting the money from a job as a bar tender and didn't even know what I really did so far and even though I fear he might suspect something and just doesn't dare to ask, I don't really want to tell him flat out."

"What will you tell him then?" Kaiba asked.

"I'm not sure." Joey said "He'll never believe that we're dating though. Not after how I always talked about you."

"Good to hear how kind that must have been." Kaiba said, surprising Joey with the upset tone.

"Don't tell me you didn't see that one coming." Joey said "You're the one who always looked down on me and told me I was only third rate and no good for nothing."

Joey felt Kaiba's eyes on himself ice cold and angry. "Then you better think of an excuse fast. And you better don't forget that I can kiss you at anytime I want, even in front of him."

Joey paled and looked up. "You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not." Kaiba said looking smug again. "But you could always pretend that you only said such things, so no one would notice that you loved me all along."

"Yeah, right." Joey said quietly. "No one is that dumb."

Joey felt Kaiba's eyes watching him, while he finished getting dressed and then followed Kaiba to a car. It was a black BMW Kaiba had chosen for this trip. It stood out negatively between the fancy sport cars and limousines Kaiba had standing there but it still looked much more expensive than Joey thought he could ever afford. But then again. He could get himself one before the year was up and Kaiba would have to let him keep it on top of the three million. But this wasn't the time to think about cars. He had to think about an excuse why he was with Kaiba, why Kaiba might be kissing him and on top of it, why Kaiba was actually nice enough to offer him a better place.

Once they had reached the old shabby apartment that Joey set to call his home, he said "Kaiba?"

"What is it?" Kaiba asked. "Did you find another excuse?"

"Nearly." Joey said. "It just won't fit if you kiss me or something like that. Can't you promise not to do it when dad is around? I won't invite him to your place and he won't be around much, so please just with him."

"Why should I agree to that?" Kaiba asked. "You signed that I can kiss you if I want to."

"Please." Joey said "I do whatever you want."

"You already have to do that." Kaiba said but Joey could see that he was thinking about something and he hadn't said no yet and stayed in the car, so he must be thinking about something. "Okay, you get your wish under one condition."

"What condition?" Joey asked, hoping that it wasn't too bad, but then again it couldn't be much worse than having to kiss him in front of his dad and having his dad find out that his son was a slut.

"You call me Seto." Kaiba said "Instead of Kaiba."

Joey looked surprised. That wasn't bad at all. Strange maybe but if Kaiba would end up looking like his boyfriend, to most eventually anyway, then it might be better to use his given name rather sooner thann later to get used to it. "Thanks, Seto." Joey said with a smile and was surprised to see a little smile on Kaiba's face as well.

"Now what will the excuse be?" Kaiba asked.

"I'll tell him that Mokuba found out where we live and how much trouble with money we have and that he made you give me a job and well since it's you I'll have to work really hard." Joey said "It is believable, right?"

"Sure," Seto said and Joey could see the smile disappear and the cold and angry look return. "I'm always the bad guy, aren't I?"

"Nice to see you admit that." Joey said with a grin and got out of the car before Kaiba could get too mad about his comment, he already feared that he would eventually regret it.

Joey walked up the stairs to his one room apartment, followed by Kaiba and then the two people that were to transport their stuff. Joey unlocked the door and asked Kaiba to wait with his men, while he talked to his dad in peace. Seto didn't have any objections and so Joey walked in alone and found his father sleeping on the couch, he always used as a bed.

Joey walked over to him and gently woke his dad up, hoping that he wasn't in a bad mood.

"Joey." He said sounding surprised once his son had gotten him awake and Joey was glad that he sounded more or less sober and only a very slight smell of alcohol was coming off him. Most of the alcohol must be out of his system again which was a good sign. "I thought you left me for good now."

"Hey, don't even think that old man." Joey said. "I won't let you down."

"You should." He mumbled and started to sit up. "I'm sorry, I got weak again, didn't I?"

"Don't worry, Dad." Joey said and put an arm around his father. He felt sorry for him since he always looked so guilty when he was back to his senses. It had always been like that. Even when he had gotten aggressive in the past, as soon as he was half way sober he was sorry and ridden with guilt. "I forgive you. But listen, I got great news."

"What kind of news?" His father asked, sounding hopeful and excited, seeing his son's face that clearly showed that he had something big.

"I got a great job." Joey said. "With great pay and you can move into a better apartment. And you'll have plenty of food."

"Why not we?" He asked and Joey could see the troubled look on his father´s face.

"Well," Joey said "I need to stay at work. I'll live there and get food there but need to work whenever my new boss needs it."

"And what about getting a day off?" He asked.

"Don't worry, I´ll get free time too and can visit you, Dad." Joey said. "I'm still there for you. And the job won't be bad, I guess. Mokuba got it for me."

"You really like the kid, don't you?" His father said, holding his head a little. Joey knew that it must be still sore, he could see it the way his father was looking away from the light and only half opening his eyes.

"Yeah. He talked Seto into giving me a job." Joey said.

"Kaiba? I thought you two hate each other?" Joey saw that his father worried about him "Don't worry, Dad." Joey said. "I think he changed a little, I even can call him Seto now and it doesn't seem to be as bad as I thought at first. I'll be fine."

Joey saw him smile a little but knew that he was still a little worried. "Just do me a favour, Dad." Joey said. "Try to stay off the alcohol. Please. I know it's hard but it's better for you. For us both, once I moved into the new place. I only have the job for a year but I'll earn a lot of money and Seto is paying for college tuition. But I need you to stay sober. For me."

"I´ll try." He said and Joey knew that it meant little. He always said "I´ll try" and if Joey wouldn't hide the money that try wouldn't last a day.

"Thanks." Joey said, fearing that his father might sit on the street and try to beg for money to buy his alcohol and without Joey around there was no one to stop him anymore. "Now let's get our stuff packed. Seto is here with two guys to help us get our stuff out of here."

"Joey." Joey looked at his father who grabbed him by the sleeve "If he's too cruel, then don't force yourself for me. Just forget about me then."

"I can't" Joey said quietly and knew that it was true. His dad might not be a dream dad and has hurt him in the past and even left scars on his skin and was still drunk more often than not but he still was his dad and he still felt guilty when sober. As long as Joey's father was sober, he cared for him. Unlike Joey's mother, who had simply left him causing his father, who still loved her, to start drinking. She left them both, taking Serenity away. And his father had loved his little baby girl, too. Just as much as he loved Joey but since he didn't earn much money Joey's mother had left his father and Joey never could leave him for the same reasons now. No matter how down the guy might be, as long as he cared for Joey while he was sober, Joey would never leave him behind. No matter what he had to go through. He couldn't leave the only parent that truly cared for him.

Joey walked over to the door, seeing from his peripheral view that his father was lying down again and sleeping within seconds. "He knows, I guess." Joey said to Seto "But he fell asleep again and I don't know for sure how clear he was but I think he got what I said."

"Good." Seto said. "Let's get everything packed and then you can try to wake him again. And don't worry about this disgusting furniture. The new place has everything."

Joey helped packing everything up and it didn't take long. The two vans were too spacious really, the trunk of the BMW would just about have done the job. They had just a few boxes with clothing and pictures from a better time, a time where their family had still been intact. Seto deemed most of their other belongings as unworthy and it was left behind, since the new apartment would have everything and if something was missing, he could still get it in no time at all.

Joey woke his dad up once more. He didn't need to explain anything he came quietly with them to the car and looked around the new place once they had reached it. He mostly looked through the cupboards and into the fridge and looked disappointed and Joey knew that he wouldn't make it long without alcohol. He was already searching for some.

"Joey." Kaiba said to everyone's surprise. "Have a look into the second bedroom, since that will probably be yours in a year from today. I want to know if I need to get something for that before that time."

"Sure." Joey said still surprised and left the room. He had a feeling that there was some other reason behind it but he was too afraid that Seto would tell his father the truth about his job. But he didn't leave the room for long, afraid of Seto's reasoning and it turned out to be good that he wasn't gone for long. When he walked back into the new and specious livingroom, where the boxes with his fathers belongs were standing by the door, Joey saw his father shiver under the death glare of Kaiba "What did you do to him?" Joey asked.

"Nothing." Seto said and grabbed Joey's arm "We need to go. We still need to get your stuff to the mansion and I'm running late for work."

"I don't give a damn about that." Joey nearly shouted and freed his arm from Kaiba's grip with surprising ease before he hugged his father "Whatever he said dad, don't listen to the jerk."

"I'm sorry." Joey heard his father say. "I´ll stop drinking. I promise you. This time I won't just try, this time I really mean it."

Joey stared speechlessly at his father, who was still shivering a little. "I love you, Dad." Joey managed to whisper after a while and held him tightly for a moment. He couldn't hold him for long though, because Kaiba pulled him away.

He wanted to free himself but Kaiba pulled him closer and whispered "Leave him. He'll never find enough of his own strength to quit if you're always strong for him."

Joey turned to look at him for a moment. The blue eyes looking more like a blue ocean than the cold and freezing ice Joey had always seen before and allowed the other to pull him along wordlessly leaving his father behind. "What did you say?" Joey asked, once they were back in the car and alone.

"Just the truth." Seto said and Joey felt himself pale. "Not about that. He's still clueless about what you're doing at my place but I told him how tough it is for you to always be strong for him and that he´d better start finding his own strength or you might not come back after a year without having to constantly worry about him."

"That isn't the truth." Joey said. "I would never leave him alone."

"I know." Seto said "But only because you're stronger than he ever was. You were there for him when your mother left, even though it should have been the other way around. He should have been strong for you, he is the father, he was the grown up and you just a boy, who had lost his mother and sister. But instead he was nothing but a burden to you and I hope that since I told him that to his face he'll be strong for you at least once in his life and will stay away from alcohol. If he truly cares about you then he should really give it a try now. But he'll never find the motivation if he knows that you'll be there for him anyway to clean up his mess for him. Paying the rent and all with your hard earned money while he drinks away all your savings instead of letting him rot on the street where he should be."

Joey looked at Seto and mumbled: "But he only drinks when he's down and you made him feel more down than he was in a long time. Please turn around. He needs me. And you were much too harsh to him."

"I won't turn around." Seto said. "Because you need to lean to think of yourself for once."

"How?" Joey asked. "I thought I have to do what you want and not what I want."

"Not completely." Seto said. "You still can go out and buy whatever you want. And that all for yourself, while you don't need to worry about him. I make sure he won't get a chance to drink, even if he gets weak again. I have someone trailing him as well. So you don´t need to worry about him, no matter how down he gets, he's not getting a drop. He'll learn to pull through without. He'll have too."

Joey stared and was wondering if he should thank Seto for that help. But Joey wasn't sure if it was right since it made his father feel bad, even if Seto wanted to make Joey believe that it was to help his father, which he was still a bit doubtful about.

* * *

><p>Authors Note:<p>

Thanks to Nagareboshi-Lover, Rowan A.K.A , hizeezetoyou, randomismyname13 and AyaKagami for the reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Joey was walking through the mansion into Kaiba's room. It was long past midnight and he didn't care anymore if he would get pissed if he walked in on his own, he just wanted to sleep. It was a hard day for him moving all his stuff and explaining to his dad about his new job. The hardest part was not to go back and comfort his father after Kaiba had upset him greatly. Joey still remembered the way his father was shaking under the death glare but somehow the words Kaiba had said made sense to him. Maybe his father needed to hear those things and maybe he needed to find his own strength instead of constantly relying on his son to clean up his mess. And Joey was happy that Kaiba said he would keep an eye on him and make sure he wouldn't start drinking again. Another reason to survive this year with Kaiba. He had to be strong for his dad to give him a chance to keep his promise. Maybe this time he really meant it. It was different than all the other times where he had apologised and promised to try to stay sober and looked for alcohol as soon as he got a chance.

Joey undressed himself and got to bed in nothing but his boxers just like the night before and closed his eyes. They were just closed when he heard a car stopping outside. Joey kept his eyes closed still hoping that Kaiba wouldn't be pissed about him being in his room alone. Joey heard the door to the house open and soon after that he heard footsteps along the hallway. The door to the bedroom was opened and the light turned on again. Joey kept his eyes closed while he heard Kaiba moving around a little. Soon after that he felt the covers lifted and Kaiba moved close to him. He could soon feel his cold skin on his own and shivered a little.

He felt himself pulled closer to him and wondered if it could be normal that someone was so cold. Especially his feet and fingers were like ice. "You're cold." Joey mumbled, keeping his eyes closed.

"Sorry." He heard Seto say and wondered about the amusement in his voice. He looked into his eyes, surprised that his eyes looked like the ocean again, much warmer than usually and unbelievably deep. "Just sleep again." He said his voice being much gentler than Joey was used to.

He cuddled closer to Seto, trying to warm him a little "You're late." Joey mumbled without opening his eyes. "And thanks, I guess."

"You guess?" Joey heard Seto say and noticed how amused his voice sounded and wondered if he was simply dreaming.

"Yeah." Joey mumbled as an answer. "We'll see after dad stays sober for a while."

"In that case, you're welcome, I guess." Seto said and once again his voice sounded much too amused to be real. Joey still didn't open his eyes though. He was too tired. Soon after that Joey fell asleep.

Joey slept until late the next day and Seto was already gone by the time Joey woke up. Joey decided to stay in bed for most of the day. He wasn't sure what he should do until he would get to work that night. He had a later shift today, meaning that he might be back way after Seto and hopefully find him sleeping in his bed, meaning he would get around having to talk to him for the night. It was strange to Joey that for once he rather would simply let himself get laid then having to talk with the other. Joey knew what to do if someone wanted sex, he wasn't proud of that or liked it but it felt safer than the way it was with Seto.

The chatting at night and sleeping in his arms was much too intimate for a pure sexual affair and Joey still had no idea what the other wanted with him in the first place. Joey only knew that he was completely trapped. There was no way of getting out of this before the year was over. Seto not only had him in his hand with the money that he desperately wanted and needed but also with his father. Seto had the resources to keep his father from drinking for long enough to maybe get over his addiction enough to withstand it on a more permanent basis as Joey could.

There was no way Joey was going to leave now. Not while Seto kept his father safe and provided everything for him. Joey would have to make sure that Seto stayed satisfied with him for the one year.

Joey didn't get out of bed until he needed to nearly run to make it in time for his shift to start. He wanted to run and get some of the confusion out of his head. He focused only on the way ahead to avoid bumping into someone or something and focused on his muscles that were getting sore after running a while without a break. He made it just in time and his legs were sore enough from the sprint, that he didn't think about Seto as much as he might have otherwise. He simply worked, hoping that the shift would end soon and he could walk back and crawl into bed again. But it was a very busy night and Joey needed to stay a whole hour longer since a colleague was out sick on top of it and Joey needed to stay and clean everything up for her before he could leave.

Once he was done, Joey slowly got his stuff to get home. He wasn't keen on getting back soon, just in case Kaiba was still up and chose to take a little detour. But all the hope that Joey had that Kaiba might be asleep when he gets back was smashed as soon as Joey walked out of the restaurant. He didn't need to walk a detour, he wouldn't need to walk at all, since Seto Kaiba was standing right in front of him, leaning against a fancy red sports car.

"You're late." Seto said as soon as Joey was within easy hearing range.

"Someone was sick and it was busy tonight." Joey explained. "Why are you here?"

"You weren't home when I was back even though you should have been, so I came here." Seto said.

"Sorry but I needed to stay longer, like I said." Joey said. "That's no need to come here. You already have someone watching me anyway, don't you?"

"I wanted to see you." Seto said. "And I need to talk to you, so I thought I´d pick you up. Is that so bad?"

Joey felt Kaiba moving an arm around his waist and pulling him closer. "No. It's not bad, I'm just surprised that's all." Joey said with a blush. "I'm actually glad to see you. I'm tired and didn't really want to walk all the way to your place."

Joey hoped to get the point of being tired into the other guys head to still get around any funny stuff he might have planned. "Get in the car." Joey looked into the others eyes and noticed how cold his death glare was again. He seemed to be composed like always but his eyes could get different. Joey hadn't noticed in the past but since that time where Seto's eyes had reminded him of the ocean rather then an icicle, he couldn't shake the feeling that Seto couldn't control them as well as his facial expressions and his body language.

"Did I say something wrong?" Joey asked.

"What makes you think that?" Seto asked, still sounding like always. A bit of anger in it maybe but Joey couldn't be sure about that. He was much too composed for that.

"I don't know." Joey said. "Just a feeling."

"Then your feeling is wrong." Seto said but Joey still had a feeling that the cold look in his eyes had a meaning. He kept watching the other during their 10 minutes drive back to the mansion. Once there, Joey followed Seto to his bedroom and watched him walking over to the desk where he had signed the contract not too long ago. Joey saw him taking out something small "Take that." Seto said and threw it over to Joey. It was a mobile phone and not just any. It was a brand new iPhone. "I don't trust that old piece of scrap metal you have sticking out of your back pocket." Seto said, still looking with cold eyes towards Joey. "And I want to be sure that I can reach you if needed so keep that with you. It's yours"

Joey was sure that it wasn't because Seto didn't trust his old mobile, that looked more like a telephone cell considering the size, he was sure that it was simply because it didn't send out any GPS signal and Joey was certain that Seto would just love to trace him at all times. Joey looked at the phone for a moment. "And just so you know, I emptied all the drawers and the big wardrobe on the left side of this room so you can use them. The two top drawers on the left of the desk are for your private usage as well and the ones below but also on the left have paper and stuff in it that you can use as you please as well. Now get to bed if you're that tired."

Joey watched him. Staring back into Seto's cold death glare and slowly walked over. "Thanks." He said and gave him one little kiss on the lips. After that it was like Joey could watch some of the ice melt.

Joey started to dress down to his boxers, while feeling Seto's eyes watching every move he made, it was sort of creeping him out but he stayed quiet. He didn't want the cold to return to Seto's eyes. "By the way." Seto suddenly said, "it is your place too. At least for the duration of one year."

Joey looked up at the other. Some of the cold had returned to those eyes and Joey thought he knew why he had been angry before. He wanted Joey to consider this his home for the duration of the contract. He had been upset to hear that Joey had considered it to be his place only. At least that was easily remedied.

"You're still the one owning it." Joey said. "And I just moved in, it's going to take a bit till it will be ours. And where is the rush? I'm staying for a while, aren't I?"

"I guess you are." Seto said, his face and posture as well as his voice hadn't changed much but it all felt a bit warmer and especially his eyes. They weren't the deep ocean yet but not an iceberg either. "By the way, if you're up in time we can talk about getting you into college tomorrow morning and about how that might affect your work in the restaurant. If you want I´ll wake you in time before I need to leave."

"Thanks." Joey said. "I really appreciate it." And then he lay down. That was about as much of talking with Kaiba as he could handle on one night. Joey got into bed and soon after felt Kaiba laying down next to him, pulling him into his arms again. His skin was as cold as the night before. "I think I figured out why you want me to stay." Joey mumbled, sounding already like he was half asleep.

"And what do you think is the reason?" Seto asked.

"You need something to warm your bed." Joey said "Here's a newsflash for ya. A hot water bottle works wonders."

Joey heard him chuckle again and looked up for a second to see if his eyes had changed and was sort of happy to feel like looking into a deep ocean again "Ever tried to find one in your size to warm my hands and feet at once? Or one as soft as you?" His voice was a bit softer than usually but his face and posture was still the one of a cold businessman. Just the eyes were clearly different.

Joey couldn't help but smile before he closed his eyes and mumbled "And here I thought you were smart, just try a heating blanket."

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to silvers-edge, Angel Dove1, hizeezetoyou, Nagareboshi-Lover, sherabo, AyaKagami and lilgurlanima for the reviews.

And sorry for the late update. My friend who beta reads my stories was out and couldn't check the chapter yesterday. But she did two today so I could update a chapter for the sequel to one of my two fave stories of mine (Living the dream) too. I hope to have the next chapter for this one up in less then 24 hours.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

„Joey. Wake up." Joey felt the bed moving and his body was shaken by someone. Slowly his brain started to get out of his sleep hazed state and he opened his eyes.

"Don't wanna get up." He mumbled.

He heard a bit of a chuckle and then Seto's voice. "I thought you wanted to get up and talk about college."

"Later." Joey mumbled.

"Later is too late." Seto answered. "Later I'll be at work."

Joey gave a sigh and opened his eyes. "Can't it wait till the weekend?"

"Don't you have your shifts this weekend?" Seto asked. "And I'm working Saturday too and usually have some paperwork and a few business related parties that I need to go to."

"Sounds boring." Joey said and yawned one more time "Fine. I´ll get up."

"That's not required. You just need to wake up." Seto said. "I doubt that it will take that long and you can go back to sleep once I'm gone for work."

"Great." Joey said followed by another yawn. "And what exactly do ya want to talk about?"

"Firstly I need to knew what you want to study in college." Seto said.

"To be honest," Joey said and pulled the covers higher. Partly because it was a little fresh that morning but mostly in the hope that it would annoy Seto if he couldn't see him naked. "I never thought about it since I never thought I'd get to that point anytime soon."

"Do you at least have an idea about the area?" Seto asked "Like arts or literature or economical things?"

"Isn't there something where I can eat and sleep a lot?" Joey asked.

"That would be in my bed." Seto simply stated and Joey was glad to see that his eyes weren't as cold as usual.

"Okay, maybe something about literature or music or I don't really know." Joey said and sat up in bed. He always wanted to achieve something but since he never believed himself to get to that point, he never thought what that something might be.

"What do you like to do?" Seto asked. "Or what did you like to do when you were younger?"

"I don't know." Joey said and thought about it. He assumed that Kaiba would say something if he kept quiet but he didn't, Joey kept thinking about what he could say. There wasn't anything he liked. At least nothing useful. "I really don't know Seto, I mean I know nothing about business or cooking or anything else and I sucked in drawing things and hated to colour things with my sister. I always tried to get her to play with me by making up stories."

"What stóries?" Seto asked.

Joey simply rolled his eyes and said: "It isn't important, it is simply silly. I just wanted her to play with me and made up stories like that she was a princess in distress and I had to safe her, riding on a dragon or things like that. Or that we went on a treasure hunt and that there were traps and all sort of things."

Joey was surprised to see a smile form around Kaiba's face. And even more surprised when he felt that it was reflected on his own one. He hadn't noticed the smile that those memories brought back on his face until he saw a reflection of it on Kaiba's face.

"My advise would be to study literature." Kaiba said. "I mean you sound like you are creative enough to try to become an author and if you dislike it you can always change after a semester. And you'd get used to go back to studying, while you can still think about your future."

Joey looked at him in surprise. "You really think I could do that?" Joey asked. "I always thought that you think I can't do anything."

"I just said that you're a third rate duelist." Kaiba said with a smug smile "And that's still true."

"Jerk." Joey mumbled but the smile stayed on his face. Maybe he really could pull this off.

"You should think about quitting that part time job while you study." Seto said "After this year you won't need the money anyway and you could use the time to study."

"Oh, how kind of you too think of my study time." Joey said ironically. "Let me guess, you also hope for more play time for yourself?"

"Cuddle time I thought." Seto said with a grin and his eyes looking more like an ocean than an iceberg, even though Joey had expected him to get angry about that comment. "But you probably didn't catch that part last night."

"I have no idea what you meant." Joey admitted curious.

"Tell me Joey," Seto said still smug "Did you remember that you gave me an advice about a heating blanket?"

"Of course, I said that after all but that was it, wasn't it?" Joey said.

"Really?" Seto asked. "You were still mumbling something unintelligible and then went right over to snoring. So I assume you don't remember that I said that a heating blanket doesn't have the shape of an over sized cuddly toy."

"Great." Joey said, looking just as smug as Seto. "I know what I get you for your birthday. A cuddle toy where I will sew in a few water bottles."

"Too bad that it won't taste like you," Seto said and gave the blond a heated kiss. Joey was surprised. Seto hadn't kissed him since the contract was signed and he didn't see this coming but once again he liked the feeling of the others lips much more than he liked to admit. The kiss didn't last long though. Seto stopped after just a little while and said "I got to go to work."

Joey blushed a little and mumbled: "Okay." Seto was nearly out of the door before Joey completely regained control over his senses "Seto, when do you think can I start college?"

"In a month." Seto said. "The new semester will be starting then and I can easily pull some strings to get you into a really good college for literature. But like I said, you might want some extra study time. And I do mean study time."

Joey rolled his eyes and watched Seto leaving the room. After thinking it through he might have a point though. Others might manage to work and study but Joey had never been the best in class and on top of that he wasn't used to studying anymore. He probably had forgotten the little he had learned apart from adding up the price and giving out change, he had no idea about what he had once learned in maths and was sure that the same would go for anything else he might need. He might have to re-learn a lot of things the others will still remember and if he wanted to keep up he´d better get some extra study time.

Joey hated it when Kaiba was right but it might be better to simply take that advice. Kaiba was still working, so Joey would get a lot of study time from giving up his job. The only problem was that if he left Kaiba ahead of time, he was in even more trouble than before. And part of Joey was sure that Seto wanted just that to trap him further.

Joey decided to try to manage both for the start, he could still quit the job if it was getting too much to handle. But for today he left the mansion to get out a little again. He thought about visiting Yugi but didn't want to explain anything about Kaiba and why he was living with him. Joey was sure that Kaiba was only waiting to kiss him in front of his friends and Joey better had a really good explanation set before showing up there.

Joey ended up to walk around the city a little. He was tempted to see his father but after the last time he saw him and how he'd let him down, standing there and leaving with Kaiba, Joey simply couldn't just walk in. He wanted to know how his father was doing first and would have to ask Kaiba about that. He chose to go shopping instead. It would be the first time to try out the credit card he had gotten and was excited about it. He walked through shops and wondered what he should get himself. He looked at clothing and mp3 players. He looked at shoes and jewellery but everytime he looked at something, he thought that it would be from Kaiba's money. Money that he only was allowed to spend because he was sleeping with him. He felt like a gold digging bitch, even though he wasn't feigning to have feelings for the jerk, he still couldn't shake the feeling he got from the shopping trip and soon abandoned it. He only got one thing and only because he might need it for his studies. He got a laptop, but not an expensive one or big one. The only things he was looking for was that he could save plenty of data in case he needed those and a fast connection to the internet for research. He didn't care for a good graphic or audio card and found a reasonably cheap laptop that held all the requirements and was even small, light and because of that probably handy for taking it to college with him.

After a few hours of walking around without a break, his feet were starting to feel a little sore and Joey chose to make a stop in the park and sit on a bench there. Just for a few moments. Once there, he looked at the clouds. He played a game with himself, one that he used to play with his sister. He looked at the clouds and tried to see a shape. That was common enough just that Joey's mind had always refused to leave it at that. He started to make up a story about where the cloud had come from. Why this little baby cloud had taken that shape and making it dependent on what the cloud had seen on earth. Sometimes it was a funny story that popped up in his head, sometimes it wasn't. One was shaped like a little car and Joey imagined that it had driven over a racing track and seen a car race. Seen father and sons looking at it together and watched how the little ones drove the fathers insane trying to get as much coke, sweets and other treats as possible, while finding it impossible to sit still at such an exciting place. The cloud was so amused that it took the shape of a race car to never forget the fun it had watching them.

Then he saw a cloud that looked like an ice cream cone and Joey pictured it to have been born over a house where there were many children and watched them get spoiled rotten. The cloud had seen the kids getting everything but never heard a thank you. The first day that cloud heard a thank you was years later, while going over a very poor country, where no child had ever seen an ice cream cone and on one of the days the cloud was travelling above them, it heard a child say thank you because it got a big coin on the side of the streets. One that would be enough to buy it's kid sister a bit of food, so at least one of them would be well fed that night. The cloud was so touched that it formed that shape to show the kids what a tasty ice cream looked like and hoped that some stranger would see it and remember the poor kids that never had such a tasty treat and maybe buy some poor fellow that.

Joey kept watching the clouds and soon the stories he made up in his head where fuelling the dreams he started to get when his eyelids dropped in front of the last cloud he had looked at. A cloud that was shaped like a V reminding him of his one and only true love, that was forever lost to a woman that was like a sister to Joey. He couldn't even fight for him without hurting someone close to his heart. Having such thoughts in his head caused the dream to be one of the less pleasant ones about Valon. Some might even call it a nightmare but Joey refused to call something that allowed him to see Valon in all his glory by such a nasty name.

The moment he woke up was even more like a nightmare. Someone kicked him not too gently in his hip. "Hey, you jerk." Joey screamed when he woke up and was standing straight within seconds, ready to fight whoever kicked him. He looked into blue eyes but once more it wasn't the blue eyes that belonged to the man of his dreams, it were Kaiba's blue eyes and an iceberg was nothing compared to them. Joey knew that if eyes could kill, he would be dead before he knew what hit him. He must have sleeptalked about Valon to piss him off that badly. "What is wrong with you now?" Joey asked and sat down again. Only now noticing that he couldn't make out the clouds above and would now be able to find shapes in the stars, another game he loved to play. Making up stories why some god, if there were any at all, might have created said shape.

"It's past midnight, so why are you here, carelessly leaving a laptop lying around? If it wouldn't be for my security that follows you around, you wouldn't even gotten it home before getting it stolen, you idiot. Or didn't you even plan to get back? Do you already try to bail out like a scared little boy?"

"Shut that freaking hole, would ya." Joey screamed and felt himself losing his temper. He simply couldn't allow anyone to call him scared. "How the hell am I supposed to answer when ya just keep japing? I just wanted to go for a walk and happened to stop here and fell asleep some time in the late afternoon. I'm not bailing out nor am I scared, get that into your head! If I got enough of your stupidity I tell ya that to that ugly face ya got there."

"Don't forget who owns you." Seto said his voice and posture the same like always, hands crossed before his chest, feet a little apart from each other, looking powerful and strong. And it all was part of his businessman mask, only his eyes showed that something was amiss. His cold ice that got even more cold and Joey thought that by all rights, he should be able to feel the ice that was radiating from them by now. "You're mine, so you better watch that mouth of yours."

"Wrong." Joey said and stood up. He was tired and now truly pissed on top of it. Seto might be taller but Joey was still trying to look as powerful as he could, making the same posture Seto had, just more relaxed and much more natural looking. He knew how to look strong from his time in a gang. The gang he had joined the day he had won a fight against his old man. He never had gotten a scar since that day and being in a gang, that was something. He wasn't a little kid anymore, he was strong and he would show that big ass CEO that he might have the height to look down on him physically but that he could never get to him by doing so emotionally. "The deal only covers that I sell my body to you. I never said that I lie to you. You bought sex that's all but neither my heart nor my mind will ever belong to you. You can't shut me up."

It should be impossible but the eyes of Kaiba looked like the cold ice in them got even worse. Joey could sort of understand why so many people were terrified of him but he refused to let it get to him too much. He feared that the money was gone and that everything was ruined but then again the deal said that he had to pay if he wanted Joey to go. The only problem was, he had the contract locked away and Joey would need to A) get that and B) show it to the right person. Neither one of those sounded promising. But he didn't really care if Kaiba got on his nerves too much, he could just beat it. Joey had managed to get by without him so far and he could do it again. Less comfortable to be sure but he could and would if needed.

"Get home now." Kaiba said. "And I´ll show you that you're mine." Joey could see the anger in the others eyes. At least he thought so if the feeling he got from those cold eyes was right. And he was getting more certain of it with each passing moment.

Joey saw Kaiba turn and walking towards the park's exit. "Kaiba." Joey said and saw him spinning around.

The eyes still an ice cold blue. "We had a deal." He said. "You have to call me Seto."

"I have to do shit." Joey said, still standing in the same way as before but now opened his arms from around his chest and put only his thumps into his pockets not even making a show of being cool. He simply felt good for telling Kaiba how it was. To show that he still was a fighter and wouldn't just submit completely to his every bidding. No matter what the deal said, he was still his own man. "It's my choice to keep the deal. Go ahead and run to my dad if ya have to. But I'll be gone then. I keep the deal, both of them, but I won't take shit from ya."

"I own you." Kaiba said once again.

"You own shit." Joey said. "The contract stated it. I might not get the tree millions nor can I keep the laptop but I don't give a damn, if you try to control my mind I'm out of here."

"You need me." Kaiba said, looking into Joey's eyes.

"Since when?" Joey asked looking smug. "I'll have it easier with you, I grant you that. But I survived before, don't forget that." Joey saw another shift in Seto's eyes. One he hadn't noticed so far, it was like the death glare got a little weaker while the ice stayed. It felt strange the way his eyes looked. Like Kaiba was trying very hard to hide some serious pain behind his cold eyes "Let's get home now." Joey said with a yawn, he knew he needed to get away before he would risk the money with his lose mouth. "I'm tired."

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to AyaKagami, sherabo. Rowan A.K.A , Nagareboshi-Lover, lilgurlanima, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai, Angel Dove1, dancing elf and hizeezetoyou for the reviews.

And I'm sorry for Kaiba and Joey and the fight but it was getting to smooth for them. Kaiba has to learn to control his jealousy and Joey his tamper and they need to get to know each other better for a little while. But they'll make up again soon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Joey couldn't sleep. He was living with Kaiba for a week now and still hadn't gotten a glue why that was the case. Sure he knew why he had chosen to stay. Three million was a lot of money. But why had Kaiba chosen to offer that? It can't have been for sex since they hadn't had any of that since that first night. Joey watched the moon light fall onto the brown hair of the man who had bought his body for a whole year only to not use it at all. At least not during the first week.

Joey was still expecting Kaiba to jump him at any second the way that guy would sometimes watch him said it all. His eyes that were following Joey as soon as they were in the same room which was rather rare at the moment. The strangest thing was though that Seto did more then the deal said. He brought home presents like a brand new and cool looking black and red duel disk that Seto said was for free since it was a prototype that he would throw in the bin if Joey wouldn't want it. He also had bought him a ring that considering what Seto said was cheep and worth so little that Joey could be sure that he wouldn't have to return it ever. Meaning that it was less then 100 dollar and Joey could keep it even if he left before the one year with Kaiba was over.

Joey had also gotten some fancy chocolate and some new and cool looking outfits. By now Joey felt like Kaiba was spoiling him rotten and he had no idea why he did that. They didn't even fight that much. Apart from that one night in the park Seto had been giving him those things but he also had been avoiding him a little.

They still slept in the same bed and Kaiba would pull Joey in his arms but he was working till late and leaving early and Joey was often asleep when he left or came. But he could feel the blue eyes on his body when ever he wasn't . It was so confusing that Joey couldn't sleep this night. The last evening Joey had fallen asleep on the cough and Seto had actually carried him upstairs. Joey woke up when he was placed gently on the huge bed. Joey still remembered the clear ocean blue in the others eyes as he said "You need to cover yourself before falling asleep. I don't want you to get sick."

Joey had watched into those eyes wondering how they could seem like the ocean when Seto was in a good mood and like an iceberg when he was pissed. It was clear that the colour didn't change since that was impossible but the feeling Joey got from looking into them was different. Maybe it wasn't as much the colour as the rest of the face around those eyes the intensity and some tiny changes around the eyebrows and eyelids. Maybe the set of his mouth was part of it too. The changes were so minimal though that Joey couldn't even say what it was apart of the feeling form those blue eyes.

Joey had looked into his eyes for a moment noticing how much clearer they were then Valon's eyes which had a bit of grey making the blue look like a storm was coming along the horizon. "You have so pretty blue eyes." Joey had blurred out without being able to think straight while still feeling like he was half asleep.

The blue eyes that looked like the ocean turned into the arctic within seconds. "I'm not Valon."

Joey was surprised at the acid in the voice and how Seto had suddenly turned away not even holding him in his strong arms. No matter how tired Joey was before, now he simply couldn't sleep anymore. He had upset Seto again somehow after everything he did and he had no idea what he had done now. It was a compliment for crying out loud why did he get all pissed about it. Joey honestly wished for a hand book named 'How to deal with Seto Kaiba' At least Joey still had the hope that by the end of this year he might be able to write that book himself.

Joey put an arm around Seto's sleeping form and touched his hand gently with his own one. It was cold like always. _Geese,_ Joey thought, _giving me grieve about not keeping myself warm enough and here he is with those freezing hands again, I need to talk him into seeing a doctor, that can't be normal there must be something wrong with his blood circulation. _

Joey pulled up the blankets a little further so Seto's hands were both covered. He didn't want him to catch a cold on top of it. Joey watched Seto sleep for a little longer and was surprised at how cute and innocent the usually cold and emotionless CEO could look and wondered how much strength it took Seto to look that way. He clearly wasn't as emotionless as he pretended to be, he just didn't show them. Joey wondered if that was due to his business or could it have some other meaning one Joey couldn't think of yet. And if it had another reason, and Joey was sure it had since Kaiba was teh same when he wasn't in a business setting, what was that other reason? Why was he acting all high and mighty and emotionless when he clearly wasn't?

Joey kept looking at the brown hair that was getting more and more messy while he moved a little around. He looked innocent but he also was restless tonight. He kept moving around tossing and turning all night. Joey brushed a bit of the brown hair out of the others face and smiled. Seto's hair got just as messy as his own and he liked the look of it even though he thought that the perfect sitting hair suited his personality much better.

Every time Seto moved the blankets were moving away a little exposing some of the others skin again but Joey kept pulling it up to make sure he stayed warm. Maybe he was just so strange because he was getting sick, even though he feared it was something else that made the brunet avoid him a bit.

Sometime during the night close to sun rise Kaiba stirred and the covers slid down again. Joey pulled it up again looking at his own hands being careful not to tough the other. He didn't want to wake him up. "Why are you awake?" Joey looked up into Seto's face after hearing his voice and stared into those blue eyes. It was the first time he saw him look so sleepy. Usually Joey might wake up when Seto stands up but by then he is wide awake now he looks more like he is still half asleep.

"Couldn't sleep." Joey mumbled "Go back asleep."

"Why can't you sleep?" Seto asked and Joey saw him stretch a little and he started to look a bit more alert and awake.

Joey thought about it for a moment unsure what excuse to use. He sure as hell wouldn't tell the brunet that his strange behaviour was keeping him awake. "I miss dad." Joey said deciding that it was a believable excuse. "Do you know how my old man is doing? I haven't seen him in a while."

"I know." He mumbled "I don't get why you aren't visiting if you worry so much. You'd know that he is doing good if you would just go there. He hadn't had any alcohol since the move."

Joey looked at Kaiba for a moment. He was really spying on his father then and of course knew that Joey hadn't been there. "I hadn't helped him when you were mean to him."

"Are you worried that he'd be upset about it?" Kaiba asked "Just blame it on me than. Tell him I made you start working right away and that you didn't have time to go home yet."

Joey kept looking into his blue eyes, the pure blue eyes that looked like the deepest parts o the ocean. "I won't." Joey said. He saw a bit of surprise in Kaiba's eyes and mumbled "I don't like lying to him. And anyway, thanks, I really appreciate everything you did." And then he gave him a little kiss, he could see the surprised shock and how hard it was for Kaiba to find the right reply. It was already so far through the night that Joey knew that Kaiba's alarm would go off any second and he didn't want to be around when Kaiba found his voice so he decided to go and take a shower right away before having some really early breakfast.

It wasn't as easy though. Joey was just coming out of the shower when he noticed Seto standing there in the door. His blue eyes moving over Joey's naked body. Joey couldn't help but blush a little. Of course it wasn't the first time Seto saw him naked like this and at least all the bruises he had the first time around where gone now. The only think that were still visible where all the old scares and a if someone knew what and where it was the mark Seto had left during their first night together was still ever so slightly visible. Joey still felt the others eyes on himself when brushing his teeth not bothering to cover himself up since Seto already had seen every inch on his body and seemed to enjoy looking even more then touching considering how often Joey had felt the others eyes on his body since he lived in the same place with him while his hands had touched him only during one night. One night where they seemed to explore every inch finding every spot that drove him insane with ease and playing with those. Joey closed his eyes and tried to think of something else. Not Valon for once since Joey needed something to calm him rather then stir the growing erection he got by simply thinking of the first time he had felt Kaiba's hands on his body.

But the second Joey had them closed he thought of Valon anyway just his eyes were different. They were too clear, the blue too perfect, the ocean that was in them belonged to Kaiba. Joey opened his eyes again since this was only making things worse. Joey gasped as he saw Kaiba standing right behind himself. He blushed even further noticing his eyes watching his face in the mirror. "Don't think of him when I'm around." Seto said.

Joey rolled his eyes and mumbled "I wish that were so easy."

Seto watched Joey the glare faltering and said "Believe me, I know what you mean."

Joey looked into those blue eyes. Once more there was the strange look he had the night in the park. Cold but not glaring. Joey looked into them in surprise and wondered for the first time if Kaiba could possibly be in love with someone. Maybe that was the reason Kaiba wanted him around. To get the other out of his head or something like that. But whatever the reason, right now Joey nearly hoped that Seto would finally take him again. Being watched like that and expecting to get jumped all the time by someone from who Joey knew that he was definitely not bad in bed was starting to drive him insane.

Joey was sure that it was the only reason why he had just pictured his Valon with Kaiba's eyes. It was just because Kaiba was playing with his mind. He must plan to drive Joey insane that must be his faviourit passt time distraction.

"By the way." Kaiba suddenly said "Why aren't you visiting your friends? Don't you want to give them an explanation about us before Mokuba mentions it? I already told him that you're living with me."

"You what?" Joey asked trying to forget the fact that he was still hot on sex and happy that he was still facing the mirror and Seto standing behind him unable to see his not so little problem. "What did you tell him? I mean did you tell him the truth why I'm here?"

"He is my kid brother?" Kaiba said sounding outraged "Of course I didn't! He thinks that we're together and is ecstatic about it. You know how highly he thinks of you for some reasons."

"Fine I visit Yug today and mention it." Joey said and thought _So much for leaving me a choice about telling them to be with him._

* * *

><p>Authors Note<p>

Thanks to Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai, Nagareboshi-Lover, Angel Dove1, AyaKagami, hizeezetoyou, lilgurlanima, Beyond Birthday Loves Jam and sherabo.

Theres going to be a big surprise next chapter. I give you all a tip, Kaiba and Joey agree that it isn't a nice one. Well Joey will like it a little more then Kaiba...or little less dependeing on the point of view.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Joey walked towards the game shop where he knew he would find his little spiky haired friend. He already had asked Seto if he could send someone to pick him up at around six to make sure Kaiba wouldn't try to find another excuse to walk in earlier than that. He after all had given him the perfect way to show up. He simply had to pick Joey up personally and Joey was sure he would. Joey was a little nervous but he had thought about the perfect way to get away with suddenly dating Kaiba. He simply had to make sure to let it look like a just for fun thing and since Kaiba was looking good that shouldn't be too hard to believe.

Joey walked in and nearly walked back out. In the shop were the usual suspects. Yugi, Yami, Tristan, Duke, and Téa. Absolutely no surprise on that account, but Joey hadn't expected the other two there.

This had to be the worst timing ever. No one else but Valon and Mai were standing there. "Joey. Where have you been? We were worried since you weren't here for so long and when I went to your place, there was no one there." Yugi said and ran to Joey.

"Hey, I was just gone for two weeks." Joey said, just now remembering that he usually showed up at least once a week if not twice or three times a week but he hadn't been to see Yugi for about eight days before Kaiba picked him up because he was busy. Joey felt bad for not showing up earlier.

"Don't tell me ya worried about me?" Joey said trying to sound joking. "I was just hanging around and kept myself a bit busy otherwise. But hey, I see Mai's back in the country, how are ya two?"

"We're going to get married." Mai said, looking like she was about to get hanged rather than married.

"Really?" Joey said feeling like she had just stabbed him. "That's great news, congrats guys." He said and gave Mai a hug while his mind raced ahead, wondering how to get around touching Valon at all. Just in case Seto had a way of finding out about it. "You have to tell me how he asked ya but first I need to go to the bathroom." He fled, hoping no one would notice if he simply didn't even shake Valon's hand after that or if they simply assumed that he was too jealous of him to follow that simple rule for good behaviour.

Once he was out of there and safely in the bathroom, he took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. He had just started this 'job' for Kaiba and already was risking it. So much for probably not having to see Valon during this year. He wasn't a month into the year and Valon was back. Joey hadn't seen him for two years but he had to see him now. The first time in his life he didn't want to see him and he showed up. Joey was in love with him ever since their duel. where Joey had been able to use his black dragon as an armour, which had been one of the coolest things he had done in a duel. Becoming one with his dragon had been great and Valon had not only earned a lot of respect from Joey during that fight, he had also stolen Joey's heart in the process. And now that Joey had to sell his body for money and to Kaiba on top of it and when Jeoy wasn't even allowed to touch him at all, he had to show up.

Joey waited for a while before he walked back out and sat down on a chair. "Now talk, how did he make YOU say yes?" He asked Mai. "And how comes you're here?"

"Ya just have to know how to ask a woman like her." Valon said, looking smug. Joey wondered if he too thought Joey was in love with Mai and seeing him as a rival, even though he loved him and Mai, the woman who was like a sister to him, was the one who would be his rival, if he could bare trying to take her guy.

"He talked me into it." Mai said. "I´d get something I wanted for ages if I agreed."

"What is it?" Joey asked.

"Top secret." Mai said. "But more importantly. I know no girl I´d want to ask for a bridesmaid, so I´ll take a best man instead. Are you up for it, Joey?"

_Please, someone tell me she's kidding, _Joey thought. "You want me for your bridesmaid?" He asked, trying to sound like it was the last thing he was willing to do.

"Basically." She said "Oh, come on Joey, please. You are the only one who's really close to me. Apart from Valon, of course. That's why we´re here."

Joey took a deep breath. A really deep breath and said: "How am I supposed to say no now?"

"Does that mean yes?" She asked smiling sweetly.

"Sure why not." Joey said. "But ya never going to get me into one of those ugly dresses."

"Don't worry." She said with an evil smile "I´ll get you a pretty dress."

"Great," Joey said. "Then I´ll have something to strangle you with." Joey heard her laughing and looked at the time. He hadn't want to have to stay too long after telling them about Kaiba, which is why it was now getting close to six and if Seto was early, he would be in trouble. But at least this was the perfect timing. "But I´ll only do it if I can bring a date."

"You have a date?" Valon asked, sounding shocked.

"Of course I have a date." Joey said. "A really hot date on top. At least as long as he keeps his mouth shut."

"HE?" Tristan asked in surprise, they all had assumed him to be straight. Joey knew he would accept that he was gay but Joey also knew that he would have the most trouble in understanding who that someone was.

"You're gay?" Valon asked, sounding like he couldn't believe it and Joey knew that he had to lie a little to make sure no one would figure out that he had a thing for Valon instead of Mai.

"No not really." Joey said. "I simply don't care if it's a guy or a girl, as long as I'm having my fun. Which is really all he's good for."

"But you love him, right? I mean, you wouldn't just play with him?" Yugi asked, sounding worried.

"Oh chill, Yugi." Joey said, rolling his eyes theatrically. "I bet everything I have that he's just after his fun too."

"What's his name?" Téa asked "And what's he like? And when will we get to know him?"

"You already know him." Joey said and fought a blush with no success. "His name is Seto. Seto Kaiba."

"WHAT?" everyone but Yugi and Yami said. The first one looked surprised and worried, while the second one looked like he somehow had been expecting it.

"You can't let Kaiba fuck you." Tristan said.

"Why not? He's good in bed." Joey said, still fighting a blush "And it's really fun to mess with him a little."

"You mean you really are seeing that stuck up guy?" Téa asked, also sounding shocked. "Joey, he was so mean to you and is all high and mighty all the time. How can you actually like that guy?"

"Like I said, it's just for fun." Joey said, feeling a little irritated about the way Téa talked about him. He had to remind himself that about a week ago he would have agreed without a second thought but now he was sure that this high and mighty behaviour was just a mask he was hiding behind. The only thing he didn't know was what he was hiding and why.

"But it must be cool to date a rich guy like him." Mai said. "I bet you have tons of expensive stuff."

"Hey. I'm no gold digging bitch." Joey said looking mad that she even suggested such things. "But I have to admit that he is giving me little things. And most of all he's helping dad to keep a place for himself."

"That explains why he wasn't at your place." Yugi said. "But when you say a place for him, where are you now?"

"Kaiba's place." Joey said. "His bed is perfect for some play time."

"Please, tell me you didn't just say what I think you said." Tristan said. "You already letting him lay you?"

"Like I said, it's only for fun." Joey said "And apart form that it's fun to mess with him, I'm starting to think that he isn't what he seems to be at the first impression."

"You mean instead of being a jerk that would do everything that helped him achieve his goal, he would kill his own dad if he would simply have some fun with it?" Téa asked sceptically.

"No, I mean that he has a nice side, too." Joey said. "I mean, think about how he treat's Mokuba. "He Isn't a total jerk. Just a bit of a jerk."

"I thought you're just in it for the fun?" Tristan asked. "So why are you sounding like you actually care? I mean come on, the man is the devil in person."

"I don't care," Joey said. "I'm simply saying that he is a bit better than I thought. I mean I wouldn't even look at him twice if he was as bad as I once thought." The door opened and Joey looked up to see the blue eyes of Kaiba turning to ice once he saw who was inside of the shop. The way it just changed he hadn't known this and wasn't happy that he hadn't known. And considering the death glare that was hitting Valon, Seto was even less pleased about the fact that this guy was living on the same planet than he did. "Scary." Joey added. "Ya know Seto, You're giving the saying talk of the devil a whole knew meaning." Joey walked over and tried to distracted Seto from staring at Valon.

"Why?" Seto asked. "Were you and the rest of the little cheerleader gang talking about me behind my back again?"

"Nothing I wouldn't say to your face." Joey said and walked over to give him a heated kiss that Keiba clearly hadn't expected.

"Was the talk that bad?" Seto asked. "After all there is nothing bad enough to stop you from telling me."

"You´re damn straight." Joey said and whispered into his ear: "No reason to kill Valon with your glare, I didn't touch him, but I'll have to go to his wedding, since Mai wants me there."

"You don't believe for a second that I´d let you go there alone?" Seto whispered back and pulled him closer into his arms

_Why did I have to sign a contract with a possessive control freak?_ Joey thought but whispered: "I already told them that I only come if I can bring a date and guess who's that going to be."

"I don't know but you better tell me, so I can kill that person." Seto whispered back.

"You can't" Joey whispered and put one hand on his butt just for good measures. "Mokuba would be really upset if he heard about your suicide."

Joey heard a quiet moan. Most likely not even audible for everyone else. "Get a room," Tristan said. "Or quit feeling each other up."

Joey chuckled and said to Seto: "What ya say, lover boy? Wanna go home? I bet ya could use a massage after your long day at work."

Seto simply gave a nod before Joey said goodbye to his friends and walked out with him. He walked into the limousine after him, sitting on his lap before the door could be closed, so everyone in the shop that might be looking outside would still see it until the door was closed. Joey felt Kaiba's arms moving around his waist and pulling him closer and feared that he got him a little too hot, considering that he really wasn't in the mood after hearing that Valon would get married. He felt one of Kaiba hands moving over his back, up and down his spine, while the other was at his neck, holding him close and gently playing with his hair there. It felt good to be held like that. Seto didn't do anything else and once they were at the mansion he lead Joey back to his room. Joey wondered what would happen there but after the way Kaiba had held him, he felt like he somehow understood that he was down. And it looked like that was really the case. Kaiba didn't say much that evening, leaving Joey to his thoughts. He didn't even get all jealous telling Joey to look at him. He was simply there, watching Joey protectively. Ready to hold him when he looked like he needed it but staying quiet and giving Joey space when he retreated a bit from him. This night Seto stayed awake and watched over a tossing and turning blond man.

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Here you go. I didn't want to let you guys wait to long so I update already. Hope you like it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Joey was staying away from his friends, trying to stay away from Valon. The thought that he was about to get married was hurting him but even worse was that he could lose his chance of getting money or something out of Kaiba. In the meantime Kaiba was hovering around him most of the time. The way he'd been ignoring Joey before Valon was in town, the way he was hovering around him and watching his every move even more closely. For a whole week that was the case again. And still Joey could only guess as to why Seto was doing it all. It clearly wasn't for sex since he didn't touch him at all when Joey tried to get away from him. The only good thing was, Seto was holding him whenever Joey was sitting close to him on a couch or sleeping very close to the brunet. And Joey truly enjoyed the comfort he was getting from that. It felt good to feel Seto moving his hand along his spine or playing with his cold and big hands in his hair. Sometimes Joey would complain about him messing up his hair and when Joey leaned away Seto would simply stop, but when Joey leaned into the touch, Seto would smile a little and say: "I can't mess up what's already messed up."

Joey was getting more and more comfortable being with Seto. Getting used to his calm and comforting presence. After that week where he avoided his friends, Joey was surprised by Seto, who suddenly said one evening: "Get dressed, we're going out."

"We're what?" Joey asked.

"You've slumped around enough. It's time to get back up, so let's go and have some fun." Seto said with a smile. "Do you have any wish what you'd like to do?"

"No not really." Joey said, still surprised that Kaiba would take him out at all.

"Good, then get ready to go dancing." Seto said.

"Dancing?" Joey asked confused. "Where to?"

"Don't know," Seto said. "But I bet you know a good night club or something."

"Not really but it doesn't matter. as long as I get to go." Joey said, smiling a little. He loved the idea. Seto was right, one week being down was more than enough. Sure it still hurt but he had to get out of this slump somehow and Joey felt grateful towards Seto for being so kind to help him through this. But he also was very surprised that he cared about that at all. Joey had never expected him to be this nice. At least not to anyone else but Mokuba and maybe one day to whoever might by then have been able to melt his heart of ice.

Joey got out one of the new outfits that Seto had presented him with and got changed right away. He felt excited to get out a little, even though he knew it wouldn't erase the pain, but at least it might distract him a little and that was what he needed the most at the moment. The outfit Joey had chosen was a pair of black leather pants and fire red tight fitting shirt. Joey looked at Seto once he was done and liked that he had changed the usual outfit for black pants and a ocean blue silky shirt that suited his eyes, without being too flashy or too shiny.

Seto was ready much faster than Joey because Joey took some time in the bathroom, trying to smoothen out his hair a little. Seto watched him with a smile while Joey was standing in front of the mirror. "Are you going to be ready anytime soon or can I get some work done for a couple of hours?" He asked after Joey was working on his hair for ages.

"Very funny," Joey mumbled. "Not anyone has hair that always looks as perfect as yours."

Seto smiled and walked over to the blond man. "How about I help you stile your hair?"

"If you think you can help." Joey said and had the strange feeling that he shouldn't trust the brunet with his hair. The smile on the others face wasn't very comforting on that account and he soon knew that he had been right about that. Seto was moving his big cold hands through the blond hair, messing it up again. "Hey, I thought you wanted to help me and not make it worse than it was before!"

"I said I´d help you style it and I did." Seto said with a smug smile. "You look good with that messy mop of hair you have. It suits you much better than trying to smoothen it out."

Joey made a pout and looked at Seto through the mirror and mumbled: "Why can't my hair be as nice as yours?"

"I thought you like wild hair?" Seto said surprised and thought about Valon's wild looks.

"Not really." Joey mumbled. "At least not for me, I always try to smoothen it but it's impossible."

Joey was about to start over again, trying to get the hair the way he wanted to but Seto entwined his fingers with Joey's and mumbled "Leave it. You look good and if you start over again, I´ll go to bed because it will be much too late to bother going out."

Joey looked upset but mumbled "Fine. It's hopeless anyway."

Seto smiled and whispered "Trust me, you look great."

After that he pulled him along out of the bathroom and walked through the halls of his mansion and towards the limousine that was waiting. The whole time Seto kept their fingers entwined. It felt strange to Joey, once more much too intimate considering what he was used to. Seto treated him so different than some random guy who had picked him off the street or even out of the restaurant where it all had started. But Seto stood out the way he treated him and touched him. It was gentle and soft and somehow felt different, a little caring even, but Joey wasn't sure about that since no guy had ever touched him in such a way. Joey looked at his hand, the one that was held by Seto and wondered not for the first time why Seto went through so much trouble just to keep him around.

Joey let go of Seto's hand to get into the limousine easier but sat next to Seto. The drive was quiet and Joey looked out into the night, it was dark already. Joey already had mentioned a night club that he thought might be nice. He didn't really know though, since he never wasted his money to go into one before. But once he entered next to Seto he liked it a lot. It was loud and colourful and clearly the perfect place to find some distraction, which he really longed for right now. Seto looked at him and asked: "First a drink or first dancing a little?"

"Dance," Joey mumbled. "I'm not really thirsty."

Seto smiled and said "I doubt the others at the bar are. My bet is they just like getting drunk."

"I don't drink." Joey said. "At least not that."

Joey noticed the look in Kaiba's eyes like he understood his reasons all to well. Joey knew what alcohol could do and didn't want to end up like his dad. There was no point to him in poisoning his own body just for the kicks. He was sure that he could have plenty of fun without getting drunk, as long as he had the right company. Joey still looked into the blue eyes and mumbled "Well in this company I might make an exception."

"I make sure that you´ll enjoy yourself plenty without." Seto said, not wavering in his smile.

"We'll see." Joey said smiling back, wondering if he truly could enjoy himself when being out with Kaiba. Staying at his place wasn't as bad as Joey had expected it to be at first.

Joey felt his fingers be entwined with Seto's once more by the other and was pulled towards the dance floor. Joey didn't know the song that was playing at the moment but he liked the rhythm. He felt Seto moving one arm around his waist while still holding on to his other hand and felt him starting to move to the rhythm. Joey slowly started to move his body to the rhythm and Seto's movements. He clearly had been out dancing more often than Joey and started to lead and the longer the dance lasted, the more Joey started to enjoy it. He looked around, quickly able to copy dance moves he saw someone else doing.

They danced to one song after the next, while Joey felt the smile spreading across his face again and felt the heat that was coming from his own body along with a bit of exhaustion after a while. The dace floor was filling up the later it got and Joey felt himself being pushed against Seto, hardly able to do anything but move his body a little on the spot, he stood but he still enjoyed it greatly.

"Want a drink?" Seto screamed over the music at Joey, who simply gave a nod. His throat started to feel really dry from the heat and the exhaustion from dancing. He wasn't really tired yet nor was he too exhausted to dance but he could feel the muscles in his body a bit and even enjoyed the feeling of it. The last couple of nights he had always dreamed about Valon leaving him forever, followed by one after the other of his family. Just like his mother had once left him. Joey had thought that he was over it but this little feeling of being left behind from Valon brought it all back to the surface, adding fuel to the pain he felt about Valon loving someone else. Now Joey hoped that if he kept dancing enough, he might tire himself out enough to have at least one peaceful night again.

Seto pulled him through the dancing people, off the dance floor and over to the bar. "What do you want?"

"Don't know. A coke maybe." He said uncertain. He really didn't want to drink any alcohol and wasn't sure what else he could get there that he would like.

Seto ordered both and paid for the drinks. Joey wasn't sure what he had ordered for himself. The music was so loud that he needed to scream into the right direction to make himself heard at all and Joey was still watching some people on the dancefloor, surprised to notice only now how seductive some danced and Joey was sure that those wouldn't stay much longer before going to find a bed. But then again, maybe the toilets in this place were roomy enough for them to have some fun.

"You're enjoying yourself?" Seto asked once more almost screaming at him.

Joey simply nodded, since it was much easier to communicate than screaming.

After they finished the drink, Seto gently pulled at Joey's hand and walked one step towards the dance floor again. Joey followed swiftly, smiling and happy. Seto was glad and soon both were dancing again.

Joey noticed that Seto was dancing a bit like some of the couples he had noticed before and started to do the same. It was fun and more along the lines of what he knew. After just two more songs Seto started to kiss him a little and Joey happily applied. Seto's hand was moving downwards towards Joey's butt and started to move along a little and Joey was feeling even more comfortable than before. This was what he knew and what he felt more comfortable with, considering that money was still involved in this strange relationship. If it could even be called a relationship. Seto's other hand had still it's fingers entwined with Joey's. After a while Joey felt a hand on his shoulder that couldn't belong to Seto unless he had grown a third one. He turned his head to see whose hand it was.

Joey stared shocked into the stormy blue eyes of Valon. "Hey there." Valon said and and it was his hand on Joey's shoulder.

The hand didn't stay there for long though. Seto grabbed Valon's wrist and twisted his arm a bit before pushing him back. Joey feared that everything was over now. Valon had touched him, which was an absolute no go considering the contract. But before he could even look back at Seto and see his reaction, he felt Seto's strong arms around himself, pulling him closer. Joey looked up into his eyes and saw a death glare like no other and heard him saying "Paws off my Joey."

Joey gave Seto a little kiss just below his ear and said just about audible for Seto "Please, relax. I'm still yours. Joey looked into his blue eyes that were now focusing on him, while Joey had the feeling that everyone around was looking at them after Seto's total overreaction. Joey saw his cold eyes soften and his arms relaxing a little. He was glad and smiled at Seto one more time and then turned in the others arms, placing his own hands on Seto's arms around his upper body. "Hey guys, how are you?" Joey said as cheerful as he could manage to defuse the situation a little.

"I got a sore arm for starters." Valon said, clearly upset.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Joey still said and blushed a little. "But what are you doing here guys?"

"We just went out," Mai said. "But we haven't seen you around and I wanted to meet up with you because of the wedding." Joey was glad that Mai seemed to ignore Seto's strange behaviour.

"Great, maybe we can meet up tomorrow." Joey said, hoping that he could get out of this situation.

"Sure why not, that's perfect actually." Mai said. "I'll pick you up around three okay?"

Joey noticed how she looked at Seto and Joey turned his head around to see that the death glare was back in place and focused on Valon. Seto really looked like he was thinking about what way of killing will cause the most pain and take the longest.

Joey looked at Mai, who looked a little worried and said to her: "Well, I guess I´ll see ya tomorrow then." He turned back to Seto and said: "Let's go home okay? I'm getting tired."

"Fine." Seto said, sounding pissed. "It's getting too crowded here anyway."

Joey felt himself being pushed outside. Seto's arms stayed locked around him. Joey was focusing on his feet since Seto was so close behind him. He couldn't relax until both where sitting in the limousine. Joey was on Seto's lap because Seto still didn't let go of him and was holding him the same way.

"Seto." Joey said, quietly trying to calm the angry man and moved his hands over Seto's arms. "Let go of me a little. Just so I can sit a bit more comfortable and we´ll talk, okay?"

Joey felt the grip tighten before Seto let go of him. Joey didn't dare to leave Seto's lap, since he still feared that Kaiba would call the deal off. He could, now that Valon had his hand on Joey's shoulder. Joey simply turned around so he could look into Kaiba's still angry eyes and asked: "Are you mad? I mean his hand was…please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not." Seto said: "I'm not that unreasonable. I saw that you didn't 'let' him touch you. He simply did without asking you."

Joey smiled and said: "You see. You're the only one I 'allow' to touch me. So calm down, please." Joey started to kiss him a little at the same place as before. Just below his ear and mumbled "I'm sort of sad we were interrupted earlier."

"Only sort of?" Seto asked.

"Yes. Because the upside is that we can kiss in private now." Joey mumbled. "Just the nice music and the dancing is over."

Joey heard the other moan a little and broke the kiss to look into his eyes. The clear blue ocean was back and the ice melted. Joey felt one of his cold big hands moving to the back of his neck, pulling him closer to kiss his lips and enjoyed it, just like he had before. Seto was a good kisser and Joey was glad that Seto wasn't calling the deal off.

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to Angel Dove1, hizeezetoyou, lilgurlanima, sherabo, AyaKagami, sakuralia, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai and Nagareboshi-Lover for the review.

And just to let you guys know, It is sort of starting slow with a lot of small things first day by day then week by week but it will go faster since Joey will feel like the time is just flying by. I bet we all know it something new starts and we're like oh one day is over oh a second suddenly it's the first week then the second and there is the month gone and another and then where the hell was the rest of the year?  
>I mean that is at least with me that way more or less all the time.<p>

And there will be more dirty little things (sex in the office with an unlocked door) since Kaiba sure as hell isn't going to wait a whole year to get Joey again and there will also be more little fights. And Seto was just forgiving Joey in this one that easily because the alternative was losing him ahead of time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Hi Mai.," Joey said and walked down the steps in front of the mansion. He had waited outside and was glad to see that Mai was alone.

"Hey, how are you?" She asked, looking a bit worried.

"Fine of course." Joey said smiling, hoping she would just forget about the events of the previous night.

"Is that jerk always that possessive about you?" Mai asked, shattering the last bit of hope Joey had. "No. I guess it was because he had a drink too much and was completely overreacting."

"He didn't seem drunk." Mai said and still looked worried at the younger man.

"Don't worry, Mai." Joey said. "I'm fine and everything with me and Kaiba is fine, too."

"Then he isn't doing anything to make you stay?" She asked.

Joey faked a laugh, surprised about how soon she had figured that out but already got into the car she had, while saying: "Yeah right, and why would he do that?"

"Simple. Because he isn't messing around with you." Mai said. "Didn't you notice how he looks at you?`"

Joey stared at her and then said: "Mai, we're talking about Kaiba. Trust me, he's just enjoying himself, that's all."

"If he's just messing around with you," she said "then I'm the queen of the world."

"Nice to meet ya, your majesty." Joey joked before asking: "Now where are we going? You said you wanted to talk to me about the wedding?"

"Yeah. I do actually." She said and Joey saw from the way she looked at him that she wasn't ready to drop the subject. "Actually it was great timing that I saw you last night, I would have stopped by today anyway since I need you to help me pick a dress."

"Great and I have the perfect idea how." Joey said. "I´ll call Téa and run off."

"Very funny." Mai said. "You're like Valon and I bet that if you like the dress so will he."

Joey rolled his eyes and said: "Fine but do me a favour and don't take all day."

"Why?" She asked. "Do you want to play with your lover boy tonight?"

Joey shrugged and said "Sure."

"Are you happy?" She asked, still obviously worried about the young man. "I mean with a possessive guy like him?"

"Like I said, he isn't usually that bad." Joey said when they stopped in front of the shop Mai had been planning to go to. "But isn't it a bit early for the dress?"

"Not really the wedding will be in three weeks," Mai said. "I guess I'm rather getting late."

"That fast?" Joey said surprised. "I mean, since when are you planning this?"

"Half a year." She said. "I would have talked to you sooner but I wasn't in the area and I didn't want to ask you on a phone."

"No problem." Joey said "I'm just surprised." Joey's phone rang and he got out his old, huge one since no one but Kaiba had the number for the new one so far. It wasn't the one ringing though and Joey put it away rolled his eyes and got the other out. He had gotten a SMS from Seto and couldn't help but smile at the screen. At least Seto wasn't pretending that he wasn't informed about every tiny thing Joey did.

"Is that a new phone?" Mai asked, pulling Joey's attention away from the SMS.

"Yeah. I got it from Seto." Joey said, smiling a little. "And I guess you were right, he's a little possessive."

"What did he write?" She asked and already looked over his shoulder to read 'Having fun picking a dress?' "How does he know? Is he stalking you?"

"No, he isn't." Joey said and blushed a little because she wasn't far off track. "He's too busy to do that but he has his security following me around because some of his fans might not like me hanging out with their dream guy. It's just to keep me safe but I guess he also gets informed about what I'm up to."

"That is stalking." She said.

"No." Joey said. "I don't see him following me around. He is doing it to keep me safe and anyway, he isn't hiding the fact that it also keeps him informed. At least he's honest about it. He can't help it if my safety is keeping him perfectly informed as well."

"Since when are you protecting him?" Mai asked. "He is a jerk and he hurt Valon and he is treating you like he owns you. I don't care how much he loves you, it still doesn't give him the right to do that."

"He doesn't love me." Joey said. "It's just for the kicks of it and he knows it."

"You told him that you're just dating him for the fun of it?" Mai asked and the surprise about that information was easy to see all over her face.

"Let's put it this way." Joey said. "The way it is between us was his suggestion. And I like it. I told ya he's good."

"He probably only suggested it that way because he knows that you'd laugh your head of if he confessed to you right now." Mai said.

"I would, but Kaiba isn't scared of anything." Joey said. "And now leave the topic. He's a nice guy, in his own special and twisted way."

"Oh come on, I know what you see in him." Mai said. "And it isn't that he's nice. You only want to fuck him, I saw how you two danced."

"That's what I said, and he's a great dancer." Joey said. "And just so you know. We didn't even fuck last night."

"Yeah, right." Mai said "I sure as hell believe that."

"You know why we left, right? Because he was overreacting about Valon." Joey said, "and I told him on the ride back that I didn't like the way he treated Valon but also that I was sort of sad that the dancing was over. And once we were in his room he turned on the music and asked if I wanted to dance a little." Joey looked down again at the massage he had just gotten. "We simply danced and not like on the dance floor where it was too crowded to move right. We just really danced to the music he had turned on and it was really nice. He also talked a little to me and asked me how I liked the evening and if we want to do it again. We also talked a lot about other things, like my college classes which he got me into and that will start soon."

"You're going to college?" Mai asked surprised.

"Yes. He's paying for it and all the rest. He's helping me a lot, much more than I thought he would, so stop saying mean stuff about him." Joey said.

"I told you that he loves you." Mai said. "Why else would he do that?"

Joey stared at her but by now she had picked the first dress to try on. The saleswoman had stayed in the background for the duration of their chat but now that there was a break, she started to talk about the advantages of the dresses Mai tried on. Joey simply watched and waited and said to every dress that it was nice. He wasn't really interested in picking out the dress that she was wearing when marrying Valon. And Joey wanted to think even less about what Valon might do with her in that dress once the wedding was over. He did notice that Mai was getting annoyed with his attitude and tried to show a bit more enthusiasm for a dress that was rather hot and sexy rather then romantic. Joey didn't care what Valon would think but he knew that a sexy dress suited Mai better than something that would make her look like she was some kind of fairytale princess. She seemed to be happy with it too and Joey offered to invite her to have a coffee or something.

She happily agreed and Joey feared that she wasn't done talking about Kaiba yet. She drove them to a little coffee shop and Joey sat down with her outside, enjoying the sun. It was still summer after all.

"Now Mai, tell me, what is it that you get out of marrying Valon? You said you would get something." Joey asked, trying to get keep the topic away from Seto. "It must be big if he can get you to marry him with that. I never took you for the marrying kind of girl."

"I'm not that much against it to start with." She said and smiled a little. "But I'm not telling you what it is I want till I have it. I mean, I don't even know if it works the way we want it too."

"I don't get it." Joey said. "If you might not get what you want, why marrying him before you get it?"

"You'll see when you know what it is." She said with a wicked little smile. "And now shoot what is really between you and Kaiba? I know you too well to believe that you just start having fun with someone you used to hate. You're the marrying kind of guy but not the messing around kind of guy."

"Me marrying?" Joey asked "Not anytime soon."

"Why?" She asked and watched his reaction. "Because the guy you love is taken?"

Joey blushed. How had she gotten that he loved a guy. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah," she said smiling. "Keep saying that. And don't worry, I didn't tell anyone but it seems Kaiba noticed the truth too, didn't he? Are you really fine with this? I mean being there at the wedding. Right next to me? You're like a brother to me and I really want you there but I don't want to see you getting hurt because of me."

"I'm fine, Mai." Joey said with a little blush. It seemed like he couldn't get her off his back. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try "I really don't love anyone at the moment. I'm fine and you don't need to worry. And anyway, I have Kaiba to distract me if I'm down because of something. And for some reason he seems to get what I need and how I feel."

"Of course he does. He loves someone who is in love with someone else, right?", she said.

"How do you know?" Joey asked. "I mean, he never said anything but he said he understood how…that would be, unlike me."

"Sure, unlike you." Mai said with a smile and looked at the other with a sigh. "Well, as long as you don't admit it I can't help you. But back to Kaiba, I know that because I can see that he loves you. That's why he helps you and why he is so supportive about you and of course he knows how you feel because you are in love with another man and he seems to know that. The only thing I really don't get is why you're with him. I mean, you don't love him and you simply really aren't that kind of guy, so tell me, is he bribing you with money or something? Maybe with college or helping your dad or both? You said he was doing all that kind of things, so do you have to stay with him for that and for how long do you plan on keeping that charade up?"

"I'm not some gold digger." Joey said with a blush, terrified about how close she was. "Now stop that guessing because you're way off. I'm simply enjoying my youth before someone can bribe me into marriage, like Valon does with you."

It was quiet for a long time but Joey noticed how she looked at him when he paid, using the credit card Kaiba had given him. She eyed him while walking back to the car and once they were at the mansion, she said: "I told you already, I can't help you if you don't talk. But you are the little brother I always wanted and never had. And I don't want to see you getting hurt, so promise me, if I can do anything, just tell me. Don't try to be the strong hero that is protecting me like some damsel in distress, got it?"

"Yeah, right." Joey said with a grin, "No one would ever mistake you for a damsel in distress. You're just as tough as I am."

"And just as troubled and alone as you sometimes are." She reminded him. "Promise me, don't take too much on yourself and tell me."

"I promise." Joey said. "But I won't need to, everything is just fine. I promise."

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to Angel Dove1, hizeezetoyou, Nagareboshi-Lover, dancing elf, lilgurlanima, BasilMacVae, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai and sherabo for the reviews.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Joey was nervous like hell. It was the night before his first day of college and he was worried that he wouldn't fit in. Seto had gotten him into a really good college and Joey wondered how much money that man had paid just to get Joey in, never mind the normal tuition fee and the books that Seto had organized before even telling Joey where he had gotten him in. Seto also had bought him a better laptop, claiming that he never would be able to keep up with that piece of junk he had gotten himself.

Joey still felt sort of bad for taking all that money out of him, especially since he still didn't have sex with him, even though Joey was starting to secretly long for the other´s hands. He longed to feel him again, the same way he had felt him during that first night where Seto had picked him off the street. But so far Joey never showed it to the brunet, since he simply refused to give Seto that satisfaction.

The last couple of days where he hang out a lot with Mai hadn't helped. She had the silly idea that Seto loved him and it wasn't easy to talk her out of that believe and Joey refused to tell her that it was all just a deal he had with Seto, since it was much too embarrassing for him. And next to it all, Joey still worked for a few hours in the restaurant. But he already had cut down the hours a little. His life was getting too complicated right now but he didn't want to stop completely and so he just worked two days a week, earning himself a little extra money as well as some self respect and normality. Joey went to bed early that night, Seto wasn't even home by the time he went into the bedroom. The only problem was that he couldn't sleep. And so he decided to look into his books a little. They were next to a chair on which Joey had put out a new outfit for the next day. They were in a bag that Seto had given him, like so many other things. Joey took it out and started to look through them and read them until he heard someone enter the room. He hadn't heard the car doors or anything else that usually told him that Seto was home but he still was sure that it couldn't be anyone else. And that he must have eaten at work, since he came right to bed. "Welcome home." Joey said like he had started to do every night recently. Since the dance Joey was feeling much more comfortable in the others presence, even though the intimacy that was still often present still confused him and made him feel uncomfortable at times. In general he liked it in the mansion within the first month. "How was work?"

"It was fine." Seto said. "How was your day with Mai? You picked out a cake today?"

"Yeah." Joey said. "It was tasty, trying all the different cakes they had there. But Mai said that Valon doesn't like chocolate and so she chose a strawberry one."

"Why didn't Valon come?" Seto asked.

"Mai assumes that I like him more than I should and she doesn't want to hurt me." Joey said.

"Then she shouldn't have asked you to be her bridesmaid." Seto said. "That's hurting you the most."

"I'm like a brother to her," Joey said. "And I'm honoured that she asked, so shut up about it."

Joey heard him sigh and it was quiet for a while. Joey thought about the last couple of days that he'd spent mostly with Mai, choosing all sort of things for the wedding. It was hard and it did hurt at times, thinking of who she was going to marry and what that meant for his chances with the man he loved. But he still wouldn't want to give up the chance to be there for Mai when she needed him around or his support. Joey knew that he could pull it off. He would stand there and support Mai all the way and smile like nothing was wrong. He could feel down again later. Once they were off to their honeymoon and probably gone again for the net few years. At least the wedding was soon. Just one more week to go and this whole ordeal would be over.

It didn't take long until Joey felt Seto crawling into bed and cuddle up to him, pulling him closer. "Do you like those books?" He asked after a while "You seem quite absorbed in them."

"Yeah." Joey said, surprised that he even got what was standing there. So far he had avoided looking into them. Afraid that he wouldn't understand a word anyway. "This one anyway. It's really fascinating." He could feel Seto kissing his neck a little like he sometimes did for a moment in the evenings recently. "Are you tired? I can put it aside and turn off the light."

"It's fine." Seto said and put an arm around Joey and his head on his shoulder. "I can sleep like this."

Joey still put the book aside and turned off the lights before cuddling back up to Seto. "Good night." He mumbled before falling asleep with ease now that Seto was home. In the evenings it was easy to feel even more at ease with him around. During the day, when they were close to fighting, it was still a bit of a difference but much easier than he had assumed at the start.

The next morning Joey nearly slept in. Seto woke him up and said "If you don't hurry you'll be late even if I give you a ride."

Joey had gotten a shock when he looked at the time and quickly got dressed, happy that he had a shower the night before. He grabbed his bag and said: "I´ve got to run, see ya."

"Grab some lunch and come out, I´ll give you a lift." Seto said with a smile.

"Thanks." Joey said with a smile. "You're the best." He ran into the kitchen and quickly made himself something. The people there offered to make it for him but Joey already felt like he was getting spoiled rotten and said it wasn't necessary to make it for him. Once he was done, he ran outside and saw the huge limousine. "Can't ya use a more decent car to get me to college?" Joey asked, knowing that he would be in everyone's mouth if he showed up in that.

"Sorry." Seto said. "But I need that one today for picking up someone for a business meeting."

Joey rolled his eyes and got in wordlessly. Better showing up in an outrageously huge limousine than showing up late. "Can you at least let me get out a bit before we reach the entrance?"

"I don't see why." Seto said. "There still will be someone walking there who sees you and it only will be a waste of your time. And anyway, if someone is wondering who gave you this ride, just tell them that you're mine and that I was kind enough to drive you when you were running late."

Joey looked at Seto for a moment and took out his phone to see why he hadn't heard the alarm he had set for himself. Of course it was turned off. "Seto?" Joey asked, trying not to sound upset already but failing miserably. "Did you touch my phone last night?"

"Why would I do that?" Seto asked, sounding smooth like always.

"Because you wanted me to run late, so everyone there would see us together?" Joey suggested. "It would fit perfectly to mister possessive."

"Just be happy that you're getting there at all." Seto said looking smug. To Joey that was all the confirmation he needed but it also reminded Joey that if it wasn't for Seto, he wouldn't even get to go there in the first place and so he didn't complain at all. Joey simply got out of the nightmare vehicle as soon as it stopped in front the college entrance and wanted to walk away from it but before he could make five steps away, he heard Seto's voice: "Joey, I have something for you."

Joey turned and walked back to the brunet, looking into his ocean blue eyes. Seto passed him a little package and said: "It's to give you some luck."

"I'm always lucky." Joey said with a grin but took it anyway. He was about to turn away again, when Kaiba pulled him closer and gave him a kiss in front of everyone around. Joey could feel himself blushing but didn't dare to move away, even though he heard countless people gasp and starting to whisper to each other while Seto refused to let the kiss end right away again and fought with his tongue for entrance into Joey's mouth. Since the blond knew that he wouldn't be getting around this he parted his lips and moved closer to Seto. It was too late to stop Seto from marking his territory this way now, so he might as well go along with it.

"See you later." Seto said and gave him another short kiss.

"Good luck with that meeting, you possessive jerk," Joey mumbled quietly before walking towards the entrance without looking at how Seto reacted to being called a possessive jerk by Joey.

Thanks to Seto, Joey felt the eyes of every student on him and heard them whisper to each other. Joey tried to ignore it and focused on the lessons instead. Most of them where much younger, fresh from high school, and Joey saw no reason to bother befriending them.

At least until lunch break "Are you Joey?" Joey was surprised to hear someone talking to him and looked at the girl who had addressed him. She seemed nice and maybe a little shy the way she looked at the floor.

"Yeah." Joey said. "How do ya know?"

"I saw you and Mr. Kaiba this morning." She said, still looking at the floor. "My mother is working for him as a secretary and she said that he is in a much better mood recently due to his boyfriend Joey. It seems like he doesn't stop talking about you." Joey saw her face blushing and was surprised by what she had said. "I wanted to thank you. Because since that started, Mr. Kaiba is in a better mood and my mother is less stressed after work."

Joey still stared at her and said: "I'm not doing anything that special, so ya don't have to thank me."

"I know, but it still helps us." She said. "Well, I guess I see ya around." And with that she fled from Joey, not looking up at the older guy once. Joey stared after her, wondering what that had been about. Could Kaiba really be nicer just because of him? Granted, some people said that if someone got laid they´re in a better mood but the last time was a month ago by now. All they did now was cuddle and once more Joey wondered if he should try to change that but wasn't sure how to do it without letting Seto know that he wanted it to change. Seto was the one paying him for sex, it would be wrong if he was now the one trying to seduce Seto.

Everything about this seemed so strange though. So many things they did felt so strangely intimate to Joey. It was silly really to think that the way Seto kept holding his hand all the time, since they've been out to dance, felt intimate especially considering that they had had sex already. Shouldn't that feel much more intimate? Joey couldn't help and wonder if it just felt so strange because something was wrong with him? Maybe something wasn't right because of the way he was raised? He'd never seen a working relationship when he was a child. The only relationships that were actually working out where the ones of his friends, which had started to developed at a time where Joey should have started his own but the only love he had found brought him pain. It was like he was destined to never know how true love feels like. With this thought Joey had a much harder time to focus on his afternoon classes.

Joey didn't dare to look into the little package that was supposed to bring him luck till the day was over, afraid of what might be in it. He wasn't sure why but he was afraid that it would distract him further. He had feared it for nothing and knew that he would have to thank Seto for the gift. It was a tiny dragon charm for his new mobile. And not just any dragon, it was his dragon and even had a little red stone as an eye.

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to hizeezetoyou, Angel Dove1, lilgurlanima, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai, Nagareboshi-Lover, sherabo, BrowneyedShamer and Keedra2173.

And if you want to see how the wedding goes, read the next chapter! Will Seto freak out if Joey has to congratulate Valon? Or will he try to be good to make sure that Joey is happy and won't leave him?


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Joey was helping Mai to get ready for her big moment. The wedding would start any moment now and she was getting a little edgy. Whenever she got nervous she would get cranky and right now it was starting to show. "You really look great!. Joey said "I bet Valon will have a hard time to wait till tonight before he rips that dress of you." It was getting strangely easy to joke about this. Joey knew that he had to, now that he knew how suspicious Mai was of him. She suspected him to love her soon to be husband and she was like a sister and said he was the brother she longed to have. He had to be there for her and not let her see the jealous mess he was inside. He saw her eyes on him now though. Like everytime within the last three weeks when he made a joke about Valon or Kaiba. No matter what Joey tried, the worry wouldn't completely go away.

"Thanks." She said, "you look great, too."

Joey looked past her in the mirror that she stood in front of. He looked like always in his opinion. Nothing special about him. His blond hair was a mess, his brown eyes boring, compared to Kaiba's, which depending on his mood could look like ice or a deep ocean. His body was too skinny and the muscles hardly visible under his red silk shirt and the black pants with a matching black blazer. "Yeah, right." Joey said. "Like every other day really."

"Honestly, if you wouldn't be like a brother to me, I'd be marrying you." She said jokingly.

"Sure." Joey said with the same mock smile he saw on her face "But only if you can catch me."

She laughed a little, grateful for the distraction he offered her. But the smile disappeared again behind an angry look that was to hide her nervousness when they left to room to start the ceremony. During the whole ceremony Joey tried to think of something else. Anything, as long as he didn't have to think about the fact that Mai and Valon were getting married. He used to hope that they would get bored with each other after a few years. That one day Valon was free and Mai wouldn't care who might make a move on him. Not even if the one making the move was Joey. He always had known that it was a long shot, since they were perfect with each other. He had hoped nevertheless, but now this hope was gone. He had hoped so much that it hurt to give it up. There was the possibility of a divorce but he was sure that to keep on hoping was pointless. It would only stop him from ever being able to move on. He wasn't sure if he could move on, even when giving up hope, but he knew for sure that as long as he had hope he would only get hurt by them being together over and over again.

Joey tried to think of something nicer during the wedding ceremony. He tried to think of a book he was reading for college. A book that he liked about a man who had a hard time admitting to his feelings for a girl that was living in the neighbourhood. Some of his actions reminded him strongly of Kaiba but it must be a coincidence.

Once the ceremony was done and the had all moved to where the party would be, the few people invited were lining up to give the happy couple their congrats. Joey was next to Seto in a second, just now thinking about the fact that he would have to give Valon his hand at the very least. There simply wasn't a way around it. Joey took his hand and looked into the ice cold eyes that were glaring at Valon seconds before. They seemed to melt at the begging look of Joey, who was thinking of how to ask this possessive guy for permission. Seto leaned down, his eyes looking like he was in pain too but there was also worry in them when he whispered: "It's okay. Just smile and try to be as happy as you look. You're free for today. Dance with whoever you want. Even if it's Valon. Just promise to go home with me again."

Joey smiled at him a little, surprised that Seto could let go of him for one night right after he thought about his possessiveness. But Seto must have seen the panik in his eyes. It was only because he didn't want to make Mai mad at him. He wanted the day to be perfect for her, that he would get happy was hopeless anyway. Joey saw the eyes of Kaiba. The ice was there for a moment without the glare. Again like he was desperately trying to hide his pain. For a moment Joey smiled at him and whispered "I want to dance with you. Not with Valon." It was the smarter choice anyway and hopfully it would make Mai forget about her assumptions and ease up on him again.

Joey was glad to see the ice melting and a bit of happiness return to those blue eyes but it wasn't perfect. There was still a bit of pain hidden just beneath the surface and Joey was surprised by his own urge to make Seto forget all about the pain he was hiding behind the perfectly controlled mask that was on his face and evident in the posture of his body.

Joey was glad when they were all eating and the congratulation part was out of the way. He really didn't want anymore to do with Valon on this day than absolutely necessary and still tried to forget that it was as much the wedding of the man he loved, as it was of the woman that was like an older sister. It was Mai's wedding that he wanted to be there for, not Valon´s. Because that it was his wedding only hurt him too much and he had to hide that from Mai.

Joey felt Kaiba's eyes on him and was surprised that for once he wasn't only glaring at Valon like he planned his murder. Instead Seto seemed to watch Joey's every move. The smallest shifts in his posture or face was recognised by his sharp blue eyes and Joey saw the shifts in Seto's eyes that seemed to be brought on by his own reactions.

After everyone was finished with the dinner, Mai and Valon went on the dance floor for their first dance of the evening. Joey watched them but not for long. He was glad that he could start dancing soon after. It would help him forget that Valon was taken from him by no one else than Mai. Joey had to ask someone and since Seto had set him free for the night, he new that he could ask just anyone. He could ask Duke or Tristan or Yugi or Yami, since the whole gang was there but Joey had never danced with anyone but Seto. He wasn't used to go out and have fun at night. He had other things to do for years now. And he had said that he wanted to dance with Seto, who was still standing next to Joey and so Joey had to do nothing more than entwining his fingers with Seto's and look up at him for a moment. Seto got the point and lead him to the dance floor and started to join the newly wedded couple. Soon most of the people were on the dance floor and Joey was still swirling around with Seto, who lead him effortlessly. It was easy to dance with Seto, who had the perfect height to lead him and his blue eyes were so piercing and deep like an ocean that it was easy for Joey to see nothing but them and forget where he was.

Joey danced with Seto for most of the night and enjoyed it greatly. He also danced with Mai once, because she asked him, if he were the only one on her wedding that didn't want to dance with the bride? Joey liked dancing with her too and talked to her a little. He liked the chat at the start, where it was about her travels around the world and where she avoided mentioning who was with her on those. It got less pleasant though when she said: "I really thought that you loved Valon, but it seems I'm wrong, aren't I?"

Joey was relieved to hear her say that. "Told ya." Joey said ,with the smile still in place even though it was harder after hearing the name Valon coming from his bride.

"It's no surprise I got it wrong though," she said. "I thought you were jealous of Valon but probably just have some brother complex and don't like anyone dating me, right?"

"Yeah," Joey said. "I mean, I know that you can mind yourself but I still like you like a sis and you should see me when some idiot is trying to hit on Serenity."

Mai laughed a little before she said: "I already pity her future husband."

Joey groaned. "Oh please, now I'm going to get nightmares."

"But like I said, it's no surprise I got it wrong." Mai said, laughing a little again "I mean, who would have guessed that you're falling for the likes of Kaiba?"

Joey stared at her for a moment and said "I didn't."

"Yeah right," She said and laughed. "Everyone with eyes can see how you two don't love each other tonight. You dance only with him and you both look only at each others eyes. How very touching."

Joey blushed but didn't say anything further since it at least covered him for being in love with her husband. "Let's just say, you better tell that lovely husband ya got that he better not hurt you, because otherwise I now got Kaiba power at my disposal."

Mai laughed again and said: "He isn't scared of anything but I have to admit that does sound threatening. Especially considering how the possessive guy looked at Valon the other night. I'm surprised he isn't looking at me that way now? I mean he's only looking at you when he could get just as jealous about me, couldn't he?"

"Nope, he thinks I'm completely gay and isn't afraid of me running off with ya." Joey said smiling. "Firstly you're no guy and secondly he knows that ya like a sis for me. He's just so crazy about Valon because he had the same silly idea you had before."

"You should tell him then," she said. "I mean that you love him and that you don't like Valon because to be honest I did fear for his life a little."

Joey laughed again and said: "Don't worry. I´ll put Kaiba on a leash. Just don't you dare tell him I said that because he sure as hell is gonna kill me for that."

They both laughed a little but Joey was happy when the dance was over and he could walk back to where Kaiba was sitting a little apart from his friends, leaving a seat for Joey in between him and Yugi. The talk about Valon gone for the moment while he listened to his friends talking about some new duel monster cards that were released. They tried to get Kaiba involved but he didn't exactly make it easy, using only one or to words for the replies that common courtesy didn't let him get around to give.

Once the talk went back to Valon and Mai, Joey felt Seto entwine their hands and whispered: "Want to dance?" Joey simply nodded, happy for the fast get away Seto had just offered him. And was sure that Seto had done so, knowing that he needed to get away.

Once they were safe on the dance floor, Joey gave him a little short kiss and whispered: "Thank you." He saw a bit of surprise in the deep blue eyes and was happy that the pain seemed to be gone for the moment. Seto seemed to enjoy himself and Joey too had to admit that thanks to Seto being there with him it wasn't as bad as he thought this night would be.

After most of the guests had gone, Joey and Seto left too and Joey leaned against Seto during their ride in the limousine back to the mansion, that had become much more of a home within the last month than Joey had ever believed possible. One thought stayed in Joey's mind and boggled him a little though. Everyone seemed to believe Seto to be in love with him. Mai had assumed that long before she had been under the impression that Joey could return those imagined feelings. And also some stranger at work had thought so and talked about it to her daughter who was in Joey's college. She hadn't even seen them together but Seto must be talking about him at work and Joey couldn't help but wonder if maybe a tiny bit of truth could be hidden in that assumption and if it was, what was he supposed to do? He was only to stay for a year and he didn't have any feelings for Kaiba, apart from the gratitude he started to feel towards him for all the help he got from him at the moment.

* * *

><p>Authors Note:<p>

Thanks to Nagareboshi-Lover, BrowneyedShamer, lilgurlanima, (someone without a name), Crazy-Queen-of-Games-In-Secret, BasilMacVae, ShutUpAndWrite (By the way, if I shut up and write anymore, my mum and my beta are going to kill me!), sherabo and CandyassGoth for the reviews.

Next chapter will have a really fluffy start but HOT ending...No office but that is still to come later.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Joey was sitting at the desk in his room. It was Kaiba's room really but he felt so at home by now that it didn't really matter. He was typing out something from a book that he was reading for college to prepare himself for the next day. In all his life he had never taken school as serious as he did now and he never had enjoyed the classes as much as he did now. He used to love breaks where he could hang out with his pals but now he prefered the lessons. Ever since Kaiba had kissed him right in front of the college, everyone was talking about him behind his back and eyed him suspiciously. They looked friendly enough and Joey was sure that if he tried talking to them it would be fine. Joey didn't try though. He had plenty of friends to hide his little secretes from and didn't need to add more to that at the moment. He needed to focus on his studies though and read books or did some research on the laptop he had, whenever he had some spare time on hand.

Joey looked at the time while typing and was surprised. It was past eight and Seto used to be home much earlier for the last couple of weeks. Ever since the dreaded wedding, Seto and Joey got along quite well. Joey turned on the lights. It was getting darker now. Summer would soon end. The air at night got a bit more fresh too and Joey wondered how cold Seto's hand and feet might get in the winter and already planned to look for a warm water bottle for Seto. Not because he worried, but because he didn't want to freeze to death himself, feeling those hands and feet on him. And he knew he would since Seto was still holding him in his arms every night.

They didn't have sex again still but Seto started to kiss Joey more often now in the evenings, when he was home from work. Joey already missed him now that he was late and hated that feeling. He started to like Seto a little but it wasn't love and Joey worried what he should do if Seto really loved him. Mai had suggested the possibility, as well as some girl in college that Joey hadn't seen before. She was a shy little thing and the only one Joey might talk to a little but not much. Joey gave a sigh and looked out the window, wondering what might happen for him and Seto till next summer. Till the day his credit card would expire. One day after the contract ended. Joey gave another sigh and looked back at his laptop, trying to focus on the work that he had to finish. He wanted to get this done and make something great out of himself, something his little sister could actually be proud of.

Once Joey was finished, he decided to eat without Seto, since it was getting so late that he was sure that Kaiba had a dinner meeting with someone. He ate slowly, remembering his visit at his father´s place today. He visited him once a week by now and liked spending time with the old man and seeing that he was sober everytime he came. This time he had newspapers lying around the table and marked some jobs he wanted to apply for and Joey had told him how proud he was. His father was sober for two months now. And he looked like he really tried to keep that up. He had told Joey that it was the hardest when he felt lonely and that he wished Joey would be back home to him. Joey still felt bad that he had said that he couldn't come home right now because Seto needed him too and he didn't want to leave him, especially since he was helping them so much in return. He had told his father that staying with Kaiba was less because of a job and more because he needed some help, that only Joey could give him and Joey couldn't refuse after everything he had to offer in return. The sad look on his father´s face was still on Joey's mind though and it troubled him a little. He wanted to help his father but he didn't want to leave Seto either, not now anyway.

Joey lay in bed and it was past eleven by the time Seto returned home. He sneaked in quietly, not even turning on the lights, obviously eager not to wake Joey. But since he was still awake, Joey turned on the light for him and said: "Hi there. You're late today, was it very busy?"

"Nothing I couldn't deal with." Seto said and Joey saw his eyes melt after Seto looked into his own. "How comes that you're still awake?"

"Couldn't sleep." Joey said and watched Seto undress himself, once Seto was dressed down to his boxers he crawled into bed to Joey and pulled the blond into his arm.

"How was your father?" He asked. "I heard he was doing well but since you seem to worry, there must be something I haven't been told."

"He's doing fine," Joey said. "He even tries to get a job."

"I heard." Seto said and stroke Joey's back. "I'm thinking about getting him one to help him get back on his feet."

"Thanks." Joey said and it was quiet for a moment, while Joey enjoyed the comforting feeling from Seto's cold hand. He had gotten unbelievably used to them. It was quiet for a long time, while Seto seemed to wait for Joey to speak and explain what was troubling him. It took a while before Joey said quietly "Dad's lonely. He misses me."

"I can understand that," Seto said quietly. "I miss Mokuba too and he's only my brother, not my son. But I raised him for so long that I find it hard to let him move on without me. Even though he is staying in touch and phones regularly."

Joey wasn't surprised about it. He knew that Mokuba was leading a daughter company for Seto and living far away due to that. "He wishes I could move back in with him." Joey mumbled, wondering what Seto will say and looked into his eyes. He saw the pain beneath the surface of the deep blue. He wasn't angry but he obviously didn't like what Joey had said.

"I wish Mokuba was here, too," he said after a moment. "But I would never tell him that."

"Why not?" Joey asked surprised.

"Because he knows," Seto answered with a smile. "But he's not a little kid. He needs to grow up and live his own life. Every parent will have to watch their child move their own ways sooner or later. And even though Mokuba is just my brother, I have to do the same with him. I'm happy as long as he phones and visits sometimes and I know that he'll come to me when he needs me or if I ever really need him. But I don't want to be a burden to him or keep him from having a life."

"You two are really close, aren't you?" Joey asked. "I mean you know him so well and understand him so good."

"We've been through a lot together." Seto said. "It's only to be expected. And don't worry about your father. He'll learn to let you live your life and gets used to you just visiting him. He'll be fine in time, I'm sure. The first few months without Mokuba around were the worst but by now it's better."

Joey cuddled a little closer to Seto, happy to have gotten those calming words from him. His voice was so calm and soft, like he only rarely got to hear it. Joey smiled a little and was happy to see that the pain in Seto's blue eyes was gone. Joey leaned closer and gave him a little kiss. Usually it was Seto who would start the kissing but tonight he felt like he had to give him a little kiss and was glad to feel Seto's arms pulling him closer. He liked to feel them on his naked skin much more than he ever had believed and more with every day. Soon they were kissing again and Joey found it increasingly harder to not try and seduce Seto. But especially with the possibility that Seto might have feelings for him he didn't dare to do that.

"Seto," Joey whispered after a while. He already was a little short of breath from Seto's kissing expertise. Seto looked into his eyes and Joey couldn't help but feel like he was looking right through him. "Thanks. For everything."

Seto didn't respond but he didn't need to. The little smile and deep blue of his eyes was enough to show Joey how happy he had made him by saying those little words. As little as they meant, compared to what Seto did for him and how he helped him. Joey was hardly thinking about Valon and he was just gone again for a few weeks. Soon Seto's lips were on his own again and Joey was happy when he finally felt Seto's hands starting to move inside of his boxers. Coursing Joey to moan under his talented and gentle hands. Hands that felt much more intimate in their caring way than anyone's hands should have a right to do. Hands, that made Joey feel much more exited than a man he didn't have feelings for, should be able to.

They might be cold but they also were more gentle than Joey had ever known hands could possibly be. It wasn't only his hands though. His lips that gently moved over his hot skin where just as good and talented and Joey was close to losing his mind by the time he could feel one of Seto's long and cold fingers entering him. The cold of them should by all rights make it more uncomfortable but Joey was so used to that temperature that he just moaned all the louder while looking into Seto's blue eyes. He had too look into them because the second his eyelids dropped due to the pleasure, he heared Seto's whispered but comanding "Look at me." Effectively making him unable too look away from those eyes, that seemed to take in the slightest change in his face. That noticed every increase in the blush that Joey soon felt on his face. Every move around Joey's lips, when Seto's fingers had found an especially sensible spot on his skin. Those eyes didn't even look away from Joey's eyes when his lips were moving along his heated skin, exploring Joey's body and driving him insane.

Soon the one finger had become two and then three, moving inside of Joey in a way that wasn't at all as painful as he had known it to be so many times before in the past, when some guy was too rough and impatient. Seto's hand was bringing nothing but pleasure to the blond and always found the one spot inside the blond that made him moan in pleasure and brought him nothing but pure bliss.

It took much too long in Joey's opinion until he finally felt the fingers being removed just to be replaced with something that felt even better. Joey couldn't help but moan Seto's name in pleasure when he felt him inside. The way his blue eyes looked into his own with pure pleasure and amazement only adding fuel to the pleasure, making Joey move his body perfectly with Seto's. All too soon they both reached their climax. Joey only moments before Seto when the brunet started to pump him with one of his big cold hands that were a little warmer than usual, after moving over Joey's heated body for so long.

Once it was over, Joey was still breathing heavily and was soon cuddled against Seto's strong chest and could hear his still slightly heavy breathing and fast heartbeat. It took them both a moment to calm down but neither one knew what to say and so they soon fell asleep. Joey still cuddled against Seto with his arms around him.

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to Angel the Neko, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai, CandyassGoth, Nagareboshi-Lover, Angel Dove1, lilgurlanima, Angel Dove1, Iced Perfection and my #1 fan BrowneyedShamer for the reviews.

By the way, this is the last chapter where Joey won't know that Seto loves him. In the next he figures it out...or rather can't deny the fact any longer.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

It's the start of autumn and Joey was lying in the grass, in the back of Kaiba's mansion with a book that they talked about in college recently and Joey loved it. He read it for the second time now and was already ahead of some of the others that were taking the same course as him. He simply loved the book and was so absorbed that he couldn't put it down. He heard the clicking from Kaiba's laptop close by his ear in the background but it hardly got through to his conscious mind. The laptop was right behind his head on one of Kaiba's legs while his head was on the other one.

The first leaves where falling from the trees but the weather was still nice during the day. At last most of the time. Right now Joey was so lost in his book that he didn't even notice one of the leaves falling on his hair until Seto picked it up from there and let it drop to the ground next to him. Joey looked up into his blue eyes for a moment. Another month had passed since they were sleeping with each other again and now more frequently. Joey liked it mostly, even though the strangeness of the feelings he got from Seto's hands still made him feel a little uneasy at times. And he still sometimes wondered why it was so different with Seto than it had been with all the others before. He still wondered why especially his cold and big hands were so different and not at all like what he knew. Why did they feel like they wanted to give as much pleasure as they took for Seto himself? Joey had never had the feeling that one of the strangers before had cared if he got any pleasure at all and to be honest he never had, until he was with Seto for the first time.

Joey couldn't help but wonder why especially Seto was so different, since he had never expected him to be capable of being gentle towards him. Deep down Joey started to believe that Mai really could be right and that Seto really might have feelings for him and that that was the key to the strange feelings he got from him. But he still was sure that he didn't feel the same. And he also was sure that if Seto loved him, he didn't want to know because it would just mess the fragile relationship they had right now. And so Joey treid not to think about that possibility too much.

It wasn't like Joey didn't like him though. Joey came to enjoy his life at the mansion. He felt safe and comfortable and started to feal at ease at least sometimes. He didn't mind that Seto always knew when he was at his fathers or at Yugi's, or when he was shopping or simply walking around the city. He got used to him always knowing those things and asking how it had been to go shopping or if Yugi had known any news, before Joey even said he was there. At least Seto didn't try to hide that he had that knowledge. But what Joey loved the most, while fearing it at the same time, was the feeling that maybe someone truly loved him for a change. Seto's caring way made him feel special, more than he ever had felt before. It was nice but at the same time could change everything that he had right now, since he couldn't return those feelings. And Joey didn't really want it all to change at the moment.

Joey didn't know what the future might hold for them or if Seto truly loved him and he didn't want to know either one for sure. He simply wanted time to stop moving and stay this way forever. He wanted to live with Seto and see his deep blue eyes and simply have it as easy for a change and feel like someone loved him, without having to do much in return. No one to look after and no cleaning up the mess after his drunken father, because Seto still did all that for him. It was nice and easy but Joey knew that it couldn't stay that way. Sooner or later he would know why Seto kept him around and acted this way towards him and if he truly loved him, he would have to turn him down and hurt him and Joey was sure that Seto, with his pride, would have a really hard time simply taking that after everything he had done.

Now that Seto's hands had gotten through to his conscious mind by simply putting that leaf aside, it wasn't easy to focus on the book anymore. He put his book aside and watched Seto typing on his laptop with lightning speed for a while. Seto's eyes would move over to Joey every now and then and Joey wished once more that he could simply stop time and watch his blue eyes like this forever. Without having to say anything. No strange feelings from his hands, no fear about what might happen. Just the peace that was radiating from this moment. Just being close and nothing else. And if it would stay this way forever, then he would never have to turn him down and destroy it all, even if Seto loved him, which Joey still refused to truly believe.

The intimacy of this moment, just lying here and not doing anything other than be together was still sort of new but Joey was getting used to it much faster than he had thought possible. Joey saw the blue eyes staying on his face for a moment and saw Seto's hand moving over to his hair before he felt it playing and messing it up. Joey kept looking into Seto's face and saw a tiny smile appear and the blue eyes looked perfectly content. It was one of those moments where the feeling that Seto cared more than Joey wanted him to, was nearly too much and Joey stopped it soon by saying: "I´ll walk over to Yugi's for a while."

He could see a bit of pain hidden just under the surface of those blue eyes but Joey rather ran away than letting this go on for too long. He feared the next fight to start, if Seto said the wrong thing and Joey would have to remind him that he had no feelings for him. They've been close to fight a few times. Joey knew by the anger that sometimes was visible in Seto's eyes, whenever Joey said something wrong, or in Joey's own anger when Seto was getting to possessive or said something mean about his friends or his father. They both tried not to fight, but they both walked on eggshells more often than not to stop those fights before they could start and Joey feared that this peace couldn't hold much longer. The moments where a fight was on the horizon were getting further away, like they learned to avoid them, but they still were there.

"Want me to give you a ride?" Seto asked.

Joey saw the cold creep into the blue eyes and knew that he wasn't happy that Joey left and Joey wondered if he had any idea why he needed to leave and if that was why he wanted to come along. To bind Joey to himself even more. "No thanks. I like to have a little walk and ya got plenty of work anyway. See ya later." With that Joey walked away from him. It was hard to see the cold by now. He liked Kaiba enough now to want him happy but it was hard to keep him that way and right now, Joey simply couldn't give him what he seemed to want. He didn't even want to believe that Seto would really want that.

Joey was glad when he was out of the mansion and on his way to the game shop, where he knew Yugi could be found. He walked there slowly, taking his time, since he wasn't sure what to talk about with him yet. He seemed to worry about Kaiba ever since the wedding. Like Mai, he was certain that Kaiba loved him more than Joey seemed to realize and was worried that Joey was playing with his feelings, since he still insisted that he simply wanted his fun with Kaiba. But what else could he say to Yugi?

Tristan was just as troublesome. He didn't really mind that Joey was gay but he did mind him getting laid by Kaiba. Tristan really hated him and Téa was always on his side when talking bad about him. And even though Joey used to think the same of the cold CEO, he didn't like hearing them talk like that about him anymore but couldn't do much without them getting on his nerves with questions to why he suddenly protected the jerk if he didn't love him?

Joey still didn't know what to talk about and simply hoped that they would have some other topic to talk about already and he could keep it at that. Yugi and Yami were there, like always. Tristan was there as well and Duke was, too. The only one missing now was Téa. At least Tristan would have little back up when ditching Kaiba today.

"Hey Joey," Yugi said with a smile. "Nice to see ya. We have great news."

"Really?" Joey asked, excited since it might get everyone off his back for the rest of the day, he needed some relaxed time with his friends, without having to defend himself. "Shoot, what is it?"

"Tristan isn't single anymore." Yugi said.

"Great." Joey said but then remembered how he used to flirt with Serenity a few years back. They hadn't seen each other in ages but he still got a funny feeling and stared him down with a death glare that he hoped could rival Kaiba's. "Who is it?"

"Not Serenity." Tristan said quickly, noticing that the glare on Joey's face could only mean one thing "And you're spending way too much time with Kaiba your look is nearly as scary by now."

"That was the point." Joey said, smiling now that he knew that it wasn't his little sister. "And now back to topic, who is it?"

"You won't believe it." Tristan said and got a little bit red in the face. "I sort of got together with Duke."

"How can you be sort of together with him?" Joey asked teasingly. "Either you are or you aren't."

"Well." Tristan said still blushed but Joey saw Duke looking at him with a loving smile and Tristan said: "We are together. And at least my guy isn't a jerk."

Joey looked upset at Tristan. He sounded defensively about this but Joey didn't want to let him get away with ditching Kaiba if he could defend him this easily. "Sure, he just made me wear a dog suit at the start and tried to make Yugi stop playing games forever. But no, he isn't a jerk at all. Newsflash: people can change." Joey smiled at Duke to show that he wasn't mad anymore about the whole dog suit thing. Duke had been upset at the time and wasn't really a bad guy.

"One time," Tristan said. "That was one time but how often has Kaiba looked down upon the rest of us? He's a stuck up jerk and you better not compare him to Duke."

"Chill man," Joey said. "I know that it was once and that Duke is all right, so calm down. And now tell me how the two of you got together in the first place."

It took a while untill they had told the whole story, since Tristan definitely still needed some getting used to being with a guy but in short they were both trying to get a girl and went out with each other on the lookout but always got drunk and ended up in bed with each other, till Duke admitted that he by now was hoping for that to happen again. He definitely was the one who had less problems with coming to terms with this change in his sexual orientation than Tristan had. Joey was just happy that once the topic was changing to some movie, even Tristan didn't start any Kaiba ditching. He probably didn't want to risk Joey bringing the topic of him and Duke back up. It was nice to talk about nothing big and Joey felt absolutely at ease and happy with his friends.

But that didn't last too long. Tristan suddenly said: "Did you have to invite the jerk?" to Joey moments before Joey heard the door to the game shop opening behind him and turned, already fearing that he knew who was there. He was right. In the door stood no one else than Kaiba, ruining the great mood he had been in before.

"What are you doing here?" Joey asked, unable to help himself. He wanted to get away from being with him for a moment and from the fear that everything was about to change. For once he had found some real peace and hadn't thought about the problems. He didn't see Kaiba at college but he still seemed present there, since he paid for it and ever since that one kiss there, everyone knew about their relationship and Joey heard whispers there all day long. Of course Kaiba seemed present at home, even when at work, since it was all his. When Joey was with his dad he heard the old man repeat how much he missed his son all the time and Joey knew that all of that was because of Kaiba and that because of him he couldn't go back at the moment and now he for once had a different subject when with his friends and he had to show up.

"I just thought that you might enjoy a ride home." Seto said, his eyes cold after the rebuff which only fuelled Joey's anger right now, he shouldn't be angry, he shuldn't care everything would be so much easier if Seto would just want to use him, which he should since that was all he paid for and not for permission to be everywhere in Joey's life and to force himself into Joey's thoughts all the time.

"Great." Joey said angrily but tried to swallow it to avoid a fight and walked over to the door. "See ya next time guys." Joey took Seto's hand and wanted to go with him. He really didn't want to listen to Tristan and Kaiba fighting and was sure it would come to that. And Joey would take Tristan´s side right now, since he was much too pissed about Kaiba pushing himself into Joey's head whenever he saw a chance.

"We don't have to go right away." Seto said, still looking annoyed.

"Yes, we do." Joey simply said and pulled him out of the shop without another word.

The drive to the mansion was very quiet. Joey could see that Kaiba was beyond pissed and fighting really hard not to blow a fuse and so was Joey. They used to only walk on eggshells all the time but right now it felt like those were on fire.

Once they were back, Joey wanted nothing more but to hide from Seto somewhere in that huge mansion. Either that or go back to that afternoon where he had simply read in his book while lying in the grass with him. The second thing was impossible. Joey knew that, but it turned out that the first option was just as impossible as the second, since Kaiba walked after him and pulled him towards the bedroom, not giving him a chance to hide out to calm down and that was a big mistake.

Once they were in the room, where no maids could see them, it seemed like Kaiba couldn't contain the questions that he had. He was angry but more than anything he seemed to know the answers to those questions, which obviously didn't help. "Why are you so pissed? Just because I was there? Why don't you want your friends to see us?"

"Just shut it," Joey said. He didn't want to answer right now. He was too angry and knew that he would just piss off Kaiba even more. "Just stop getting on my nerves."

"I want an answer," Kaiba said. "I owe you and I want an answer, now."

"I told you before, you own shit," Joey said. "Stop trying to get into my head, it pisses me off. No matter where I am, all I hear is Kaiba here and Kaiba there. No matter what I do, everything has somehow to do with you. Everyone in college is whispering about us, dad is talking about how he misses me since I'm working for ya. My friends are ditching you more often than not and since I'm supposed to be with you, I even have to defend you and now for once they talk about something other than the super jerk and YOU show up. Just give me a break. I don't want to think about you all the time, I can't deal with this. You bought my body and not my freaking mind, so stay out of it or do you really think I'm too dense to get what you're trying? I might be stupid but nowhere near that stupid."

"And what is it you think I´m trying?" Joey heard him asking. He still sounded upset but less angry now. Like some part of what Joey said actually was what he wanted to hear for a while. Joey thought back to what he said and nearly punched himself. He had just admitted that he was thinking of Kaiba most of the time. No surprise the guy liked to hear that.

"Just leave me alone," Joey said still angry. "You own my body and just for one year and nothing else. I won't give you anything else, no matter what game you trying to play with me, you'll never make me like you."

Joey saw surprise in the others face and hoped that he would deny liking him. That he would at least say that he didn't care if Joey liked him or not, since he simply didn't give a damn. It would be so much easier if Seto didn't like him. If it's all just a game and no strings attached. "I know that you don't like me," Seto said. "I know what the deal said and I know that it's all I'm getting and that's okay, so calm down."

Joey looked at him for a moment. The anger starting to slowly fade away. He could see pain in those blue eyes and he saw that Seto was trying to hide it. But the worst thing was that Joey could hardly ignore the fact that Seto had feelings for him now. Seto hadn't said that he never wanted anything other, after all just that he knew he couldn't have more. "Just don't show up like that again," Joey said. "You said I could see them and I need to see them alone, at least sometimes, please."

It was quiet for a while and Joey was sure that Seto didn't like it that Joey tried to order him around. But he was quiet for now and just stood up after a while and got his laptop out and sat down at the desk. He didn't say anything but Joey didn't want to let him get around promising. He walked over to him and said: "Promise me, Seto. I can't stay if you don't"

Joey noticed his typing pause for a moment. It was no longer than a heart beat but Joey knew that those words might get him through the year. Seto was counting on him to stay and telling him he couldn't, unless Seto did or didn't do something, was a sure way to get Seto to comply to anything. Joey just needed to be careful not to overuse it. Especially since he could still see the pain it caused Seto.

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to Iced Perfection, BrowneyedShamer, thepharohsgrl111, Angel the Neko, Angel Dove1, Nagareboshi-Lover and lilgurlanima for the reviews.

Next chapter you'll find out why Yami wasn't surprised to hear that Joey got together with Seto. And Joey will run to Kaiba Corp. to kill Seto. Unless Kaiba can distract him. I guess you all know where that ends since I mentioned that part before :P


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Joey was walking around the city from shop to shop, enjoying his free time. No one there to bother him or talking about Kaiba. Nothing between him and Kaiba had changed. They were still walking on eggshells most of the time but it somehow worked out. There hadn't been a fight in a while. Not since Seto had shown up in the game shop which he hadn't dared to do again. He left Joey his space more often now.

It's the end of October and the weather was getting colder. Joey didn't mind much, a thin jacked was still enough as long as he kept moving and he liked the colours around him. A few weeks ago he had been worried sick over a present for Kaiba but he had gotten out of that one. He gave him a note saying 'You're not a total ass.' Coming from Joey after their last fight that must mean something and Joey had left it on Seto's pillow when he got home, while Joey was already pretending to be asleep. He heard him putting it away and a whispered "And I still have most of the year to change it to maybe we can hang out sometimes. That's all I hope for now." Joey hadn't reacted since he was pretending to sleep but he had a feeling that Kaiba wasn't fooled by that performance at all. Becoming an actor was hence out of the question for his future.

Now that the birthday was over, Joey started to slightly worry about Christmas. Honestly, what was he supposed to give a guy who had it all? And Seto had everything he wanted and if he wanted something he didn't have, he bought it. Hell, he'd bought Joey himself, so how was he supposed to give him anything? He wasn't even able to offer some kinky sex, since Joey's body already belonged to Seto and he could have that anyway, if he would dare to ask.

So far he hadn't asked for any kinky stuff but sometimes the way he looked at Joey's body, just before seducing him, made Joey sure that Seto was imagining lots of kinky stuff and feared it had to do with doggy suits. Joey sure as hell would never offer kinky stuff, the risk of ending up on all fours with a leash to Seto's feet was simply too high.

They weren't even a quarter into the year and Joey feared he would end up in that position towards the end of this damned year anyway. He gave a sigh and looked around some more. He still didn't like spending Kaiba's money, unless he really needed something. He knew that it was silly, since it was sort of his payment but Kaiba already did more than he had to, keeping an eye on his dad and by now even giving him a job the old man really enjoys, as a security guard at Kaiba Corp.

Ever since he had that job, he seemed to feel less lonely and went out with colleagues without even drinking. The all knew from Kaiba that he's an alcoholic and that whoever lets him get one drop would lose his job. They all kept an eye on him while going out and Joey was sure it annoyed them but at the same time it must be helpful at the moment.

"Hey Joey," Joey turned after hearing his name on the street and turned around, looking at Yugi and Yami walking over to him.

"Hey guys, what are you two up to?" Joey asked, smiling at his friends.

"We wanted to go out a little," Yugi said happily. "Why don't you join us?"

"Sure why not." Joey said, still smiling "That is if you really don't mind me joining in on you two lovebirds."

"Of course not," Yugi said still smiling, but Joey was sort of wondering why Yami was looking like he had something on his mind that troubled him greatly.

"What exactly were you doing?" He asked curious.

"We weren't sure but maybe we can all have a hot chocolate or something?" Yami suggested, still looking like he had something to talk about but this wasn't the right moment. Joey was wondering why that was, he knew him for so long that it was easy to read his face but he still could only guess what was on his mind but he was sure he would find out, as soon as Yami was ready to talk about whatever it was that was on his mind.

They went to a small but cosy café and sat inside, since it was too cold for Yami's taste especially. Yugi chatted happily and carefree like usual and mostly about the cards that had been released not too long ago. While Joey talked with Yugi, Yami mostly watched quiet and observant, only adding something here and there. His eyes were strangely focused on Joey who started to wonder if Yami had intended to be alone with Yugi and was upset about him joining them but too polite to say anything to their friend or if he was waiting for a chance to talk to him alone and was waiting for Yugi to leave them for a short while. Before they left the café, that chance rose and once Yugi said that he was just quickly going to the bathroom, before leaving there again, Joey decided to ask Yami if he should excuse himself, unless Yami would say what was on his mind on his own.

Yugi was just about out of ear shot when Yami did just that and surprised Joey with his words "He isn't messing with you, I hope you know that."

Joey stared. Yami never had gotten involved in the discussions about Kaiba and him so far but they hadn't been alone since the whole thing had started. "I don't know what you mean." Joey lied, trying to play on time and he knew that Yugi wouldn't take long.

"I mean Kaiba," Yami said. "He isn't messing with you. He never was."

"How can you be so sure about that?" Joey asked. "You might have known his former self but he isn't the same, I'm sure of it."

"No, he most certainly isn't," Yami said. "But parts of him are. Like his care for his brother and yes, he had one back then, it just didn't come up in the little travel we had, since it wasn't really important, so we didn't see him. Either way you lived back then too. At first as his bed slave and later as his lover and in the end his husband."

"You're freaking kidding me?" Joey said.

"I'm not," Yami said. "Just do me the favour, don't take as long as in the past to admit that you love him. He gets really crappy when he has to wait. By the way, how did he manage to buy you this time? Slavery isn't exactly allowed in this time."

"I'm NOT his slave, got it." Joey said with a blush.

"Then what is it?" Yami asked. "I need to know if I need to talk some sense into him or kick his butt for my pals sake or if I can simply let it play out."

Joey watched him for a moment. It was still visible that he once was royalty, the way he held his body and his face said that he was used to power. He didn't have that power anymore but he still looked like he did. "I'm fine," Joey said "It isn't like you think at all, so chill okay? He isn't buying me." Joey felt bad for lying to his friend but he didn't want to admit that he was paid by Kaiba for sex and more or less living like a bed slave again. If he had known this before, he would have made a run for it the second he had left that limousine on their first night. "And I know that he isn't really messing with me. I got that a while back but I don't really know what to do about that fact."

"Do you love him yet?" Yami asked.

"No," Joey said. "I don't love him but I don't want to go away from him at the moment either. It's complicated."

"Fine," Yami said. "Then I'll watch the two of you for now. But if he hurts you, I'll make him pay."

"You couldn't if ya wanted to anymore." Joey said. "And apart from that, I'm a big boy. I can mind myself, so quit worrying. Mai told me to tell her if I needed something before and now you too? I mean honestly, what do I look like to ya all? Like a freaking damsel in distress? I can deal with my own problems perfectly fine."

"That's the point why we say it," Yami said. "We know that you can deal with it and we know that you will try to deal with it yourself, even if it would be much more comfortable to share the trouble and just tell us. And now think about it, what would you do in my place? If I would keep some problems from you?"

"Stalk ya till I know it and jump in for the rescue." Joey admitted with a smile. He knew what Yami was trying to say. They knew that if Joey had a problem, he would try to keep it to himself and figure it out with his own strength, like once when he needed money for Serenity's operation. But they all want to be there for him, like he would be for them. They were friends, if one was in trouble they all were there to help. "Thanks pal. But I guess I have to figure out this one on my own, since I have priority rights with kicking Kaiba's butt."

Yami couldn't help but laugh a little at the rebellious blond. Seto would once more have a hard time taming his little wild thing and he did pity his former priest a little for it. "Then good luck with it, but don't forget that I'm waiting to be called in for reinforcements."

"Reinforcements for what?" Yugi asked, who was back by now and standing right behind his boyfriend.

"Kicking Kaiba's butt, but I bet I won't need him for that." Joey said. "I've got practice by now."

"You know Joey," Yugi said, visibly worried again. "I think you shouldn't mess with him and play with his feelings. He really likes you and Mokuba said that too, the other day on the phone."

"Don't worry, my love," Yami said. "Give them about a year, that's how long Seto needed back in Egypt, they'll be fine I guess."

"Hold your horses right there." Joey said, suddenly angered. "What are ya meaning with one year? Why one year? Did you tell that rich jerk something you didn't tell me before?"

"I didn't." Yami said. "But unlike you, he had flashbacks before."

"I'm freaking killing him," Joey mumbled. "If he really is doing what I think he's up to, I'll freaking KILL HIM!" And with that he was gone. On his way to Kaiba Corp. to kick Seto's butt into the next century or maybe another 5 centuries ahead. Let him try his freaking mind games again there, but sure as hell not with him.

Yami and Yugi watched after him.

"Will he be alright?" Yugi asked worried.

"He'll be fine," Yami said. "I'm not so sure about Kaiba though. We might want to warn him that someone is out to kill him. I guess I said too much there in the end."

In the meantime Joey stormed over to Kaiba Corp. and tried to walk right up to Seto's office. It was easy to find, he simply had to go to the top floor and through the biggest door there. It was surprising that no one stopped him but he assumed that Kaiba must have told them during the summer when it all had started to just let Joey through if he ever showed up. His secretary did sort of slow Joey but simply to say: "I'm sorry but Mr. Kaiba is currently unavailable, since he had to take part in an out of house business meeting. We're not expecting him to return for another hour. May I offer you a cup of coffee while you're waiting or would you like to leave him a massage, Mr. Wheeler?"

"Sure, but only if it's steaming hot when I throw it into Kaiba's face." Joey said, still enraged and walked into Seto's office to wait there. He didn't give a damn if Seto would be mad about that, he was too mad himself.

Once he was in there, he stood in front of the huge glass wall that was behind the desk and looked out. He still couldn't believe what he just had heard. Had he really been with Seto in another life? Maybe Yami was mistaken and that person Seto's been with just looked a lot like him by coincidence. But most of all, did Seto remember something that might have to do with his own past life, if he truly had one? And could Kaiba really have loved him in another life? Joey had thought that this girl from their travels there was the one he had loved back then. That's why he loved his dragons so much. They were connected to Kisara.

Joey was still looking out the window and wondered if Seto could truly have loved him in antoher life. He clearly loved him now. Even though Joey still wasn't sure why or how he could suddenly start loving him. Maybe some flashbacks had reminded him of something that once was and as soon as he saw that Joey wasn't the same guy, he would stop again. The curiosity was slowly winning over the fury, while another thing came to Joey's mind.

It didn't really matter what had been once. He wasn't whoever used to be with whoever Kaiba used to be. He was just himself and he didn't have feelings for Kaiba, apart from maybe being grateful and thankful for everything he was doing for him right now.

Joey wasn't sure how long he had been standing there by the time he heard a sound behind him. "Yami phoned, telling me you were pissed." Joey heard Seto from behind. "I have to admit that I didn't listen to the end of what he said, since he was simply being a nuisance talking about a former life and such rubbish." Joey still stood there, watching out over the city. He heard Seto walking up from behind and moving his arms around his waist. "You don't look mad though. But I still took the liberty of changing that steaming hot coffee into a hot chocolate, considering that you'll be less like to waist any of that on my face."

Joey couldn't help but smile, it wasn't a surprise that the secretary had told him about that. "I guess I calmed down a bit." Joey said after another moment of silence. "I still want to know one thing though, what do you remember? I mean, we all know that you remember a little from back then and I want to know what you know."

"I know nothing," Seto said. "At least nothing I believe in."

"Then tell me some nice dreams you have" Joey said with a grin. "And I know you believe in it. You came after us, you wouldn't have done that if you wouldn't believe it possible at all and you know Yami is back now, how do ya explain that?"

"Fine, you win." Seto said, pulling Joey closer. "Maybe some of the things I have witnessed happening are rather troublesome to explain rationally."

"Then tell me, what do you remember?" Joey asked and turned around to look into Kaiba's blue eyes. Eyes that had a much nicer blue colour than the slightly grey autumn sky over the city outside.

The secretary entered the room to bring a coffee, as well as a hot chocolate after one quiet knock at the door and one louder. "Get in already," came from Seto, who waited quietly until the door was closed behind the secretary, leaving them alone once more. "Nothing that I now truly want to remember," Seto said. "I was just as surprised as you were, when Yami told me today that you had a past life as well. Just that you never knew since you remember even less than I do and that isn't much to begin with."

"Okay." Joey said slightly thoughtful. "It's not like it matters anyway, right? You're not the same and neither am I. It won't end the same way this time around, right?" Joey had to look away from Seto's eyes, afraid to see the pain those words might inflict in the other´s eyes. He looked around the office and Seto's desk, feeling the anger that had completely faded while looking out the window flare again at what he saw there. "How dare you make a picture of me when I'm sleeping and put it on your damned desk where anyone can see it!"

Joey felt Seto's lips touching his own before the anger had reached it's peak. The kiss was so surprising that it stopped the anger for a moment, while Seto said: "Don't worry. I'm way too possessive to let that happen. The way it's turned, only I will see it. But I would remove it under one condition."

"What condition?" Joey asked, happy to do whatever it takes to get rid of that embarrassing picture that he saw standing there. He was lying on his side while his hair was spread out around him. His face was visible though and one of his hands close to his face. So close that it nearly looked like Joey was about to put a thumb into his slightly parted lips. It was so embarrassing.

Seto leaned down a little, placing his lips on Joey's neck where he knew since their first night together that Joey's skin was especially sensitive, and started to leave another mark in exactly the same spot as he had during their first night, coaxing a quiet moan from the blond. "You'll come in person to help me whenever I get hot while thinking about you." Seto whispered seductively into Joey's ear.

Joey couldn't answer because Seto's lips where covering his own before he had a chance and soon Joey found himself sitting next to that damned picture on Seto's huge desk. He felt the other moving his hands under his shirt again and just about managed to mumble one question between kisses. "Is the door locked?"

"Don't worry," Seto said and already pulled Joey's shirt of his body "No one dares to just walk into my office."

"Close it." Joey managed to mumble before feeling the others lips on his own again but Seto simply ignored him. "Please." Joey forced out between kisses but once more was ignored and he only felt Seto's hand touching his erection through the thin fabric of his pants. Joey wanted to stop him. To force him to at least close the door or use the still opened door to run out but Seto's cold hands were already exploring his body again and even though Joey would never admit it to anyone, not even himself, Seto's hands felt much too good as that he could have stopped him. He only managed one more "Please" before Seto could unbutton his pants and move one hand into them to touch Joey's erection without any disturbing fabric in between. After that Joey couldn't stop his own hands from undressing the brunet, who was the only one who had ever been able to make him feel this way. To make him feel like someone truly wanted him and not just to use him.

Joey was surprised when he felt one of Seto's fingers enter him and wondered where he had gotten that lubricant from and most of all, why it was around here in the first place. Had Seto expected him to come at some point or was he simply prepared for something or even worse someone else? Joey kept thinking about all those good looking people that might be working for Kaiba and all his fans that would give anything to be in Joey's place while Seto was preparing him. And by the time Joey finally felt Seto entering him, he felt his arms moving almost automatically around Seto, pulling him closer. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't like the thought of anyone else being with this gentle and yet passionate lover. No one else should be allowed to look into those ocean blue eyes while feeling this pleasured. Joey could feel himself getting closer to his climax and was glad to feel Seto's hand moving along his shaft, knowing by now that it meant that he too was getting much too close. Joey didn't even think about the unlocked door when he came, moaning Seto's name much too loud, considering that Kaiba's secretary was just on the other side of the door.

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to XXyaoianimeXX, ShutUpAndWrite, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai, lilgurlanima, sherabo, Nagareboshi-Lover, Angel Dove1, dancing elf and Angel the Neko.

And next chapter you'll see Joey jealous and waiting for Seto to come home from work again. Also it will be close to Christmas and Mokuba will be home for that! A more or less grown up slightly cheeky Mokuba.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Autumn left and it was winter by now. The snow was silently falling from the nightsky. Joey sat at the dining room table having his dinner in silence, eyeing Kaiba's usual place without a word. Seto was still at work, again. He had been working late for a little over two weeks and Joey hated it when he did that more than anything. Even though he didn't know why it made him this uneasy that Kaiba was in his office. In the same office where Joey knew was a huge desk with space to spare and some lubricant hiding in it's depths. Joey gave a sigh, fighting the thoughts about all the good looking people that could be surrounding him right now.

He knew that he shouldn't be thinking about that. But he couldn't shake the longing to storm into that god damned office without knocking, just to be sure that Seto was sitting in his chair and that there was no one lying on the huge desk in front of him. But he had two reasons to stay put. The first, and stronger one, was that he refused to admit that this could be called jealousy by some people that didn't know that they were way off track. Especially since Joey had no idea how else to call this feeling. He had never felt something this intense, not even at Valon's wedding which must mean that it can't just be jealousy.

The second reason wasn't as strong, but still could keep him away from the office on it's own right now. The reason was that Mokuba Kaiba was in town. He was staying until after Christmas, which was in two day's time. Granted that on itself wasn't a reason not to go and check on Seto. But the fear what Seto might try to do to him if he was alone in that office and what Mokuba might do, if he wasn't returning soon enough, together with the fact that Mokuba was probably the one exception to Seto's ´no one will dare to walk in without knocking´ expectations was keeping Joey firmly away from that office.

It was strange enough to feel Mokuba's eyes watching them like they might end up killing each other any second. Or the way Mokuba looked like he wanted to talk to Joey but didn't really dare, which really unsettled Joey since he knew that Mokuba would tell him anything, unless he was really worried about either hurting Joey's feelings badly or making him really mad at him. Joey didn't need the kid to see his big brother fucking Joey on top of it all.

It had been like this for two week now and right now, while eyeing Seto's seat every now and then, he could feel Mokuba watching him intensely while neither one said a word.

Seto had said at the start that Mokuba was ecstatic about them being together but since he was there, Joey hadn't noticed it at all. The kid was polite but not like he used to be. Maybe it was because he had grown up, or he had simply gotten too much like his bigger brother, meaning that they might never be able to get along like they used to.

"Is he always this late?" Mokuba asked after a while.

"Not really, just for the past two weeks," Joey said. "Well, a few more days than that."

"Did you have a fight?" Mokuba asked and sounded worried.

"No fight that I know of," Joey said, looking at Seto's place again. They hadn't had a bad fight in a while. It hadn't even been like walking on eggshells recently. They sort of fought at times but it was more joking around with each other and it started to get more and more effortlessly and hardly ever one of them had gotten really upset and if it did happen, then the other learned how to defuse it again soon. By now Joey really was able to write a hand book on how to deal with Seto Kaiba. He still didn't understand why Seto had so much work just before Christmas, that he needed to work late for over two weeks straight. Maybe he had done something and not noticed it for once? "But usually he is working this late for a while when we had fight."

"Do you often fight?" Mokuba asked, sounding worried.

Joey felt strange to feel this distant towards the younger Kaiba. "Not as much as I thought we would at the start."

Joey felt Mokuba watching him again for a while. "Do you love him?"

Joey looked up at Mokuba and started to understand why Mokuba was this way towards him. He must be worried about his brother. He might even have talked about this to Yugi or someone else from the gang and maybe heard what Joey had said to them and that he was just messing with Kaiba. But what could he do now? Joey didn't like lying to the kid. He looked one more time to the place where Seto would sit and eat his dinner, smirking and making jokes on his costs, if he would be here. He would know how to get out of this. He knew his brother better than anyone. "I'm stuffed and gonna go to bed, good night." Joey said, trying to get out of this.

"You hardly ate." Mokuba said and Joey looked at his own plate that was still surprisingly full, considering how long this dinner had felt and then he looked at Mokuba's, which was completely empty already. Joey hadn't noticed how lost in his own thoughts he had been.

"Whatever." He said and left the room to go to his bedroom. The only problem left was that he wasn't really tired. He simply looked at the huge bed that belonged to Kaiba and glared at it while walking past it to the windows. He opened one of the big windows and walked right through it onto the balcony. He stood there and looked into the nightsky, watching the snow falling and wondered if Seto ever looked out of the huge glass wall in his office to admire the beauty that was always located behind his chair.

He watched the snow falling down onto the trees in the garden below and on the little garden lake that was covered with ice. Wondering if he could walk across it and try to skate. He always wanted to skate but never had the money for ice skates. With Seto's money he should be able to get some after Christmas was over. Right now nothing would be able to get him into town and into an overfilled shop. The Christmas decorations that had been on sale since the end of September were starting to get on his nerves already. And it was still two days before Christmas. Ever since November, Joey was crazy, worrying what he could get Seto for Christmas. He could hardly write another note stating he wasn't a total pain in the ass. Now it was two days before Christmas and Joey still had nothing for the brunet. It was hopeless and Joey wondered what Mokuba would give his big brother. It must be just as hard for the kid, considering that Seto had it all. Maybe Joey should pretend to be too sick to get out of bed or even opening his eyes during all the celebrations, ensuring that he could get around of giving either one anything. Finding something for Mokuba was just as bad, since he was just as rich as Kaiba, especially considering that Joey had hardly any money since he had cut down the hours in the restaurant to nearly zero by now.

Joey kept thinking about what to do until he heard someone entering the bedroom and was wondering if it might have been better to close the window behind him since the room must be getting cold and Kaiba's hands and feet were cold enough as it was. He heard someone moving behind him but didn't turn, assuming it to be Seto. Joey didn't even turn when he felt someone moving a blanket over his shoulder. The hands were too small and not cold enough and Joey knew now that Mokuba definitely felt as little bad for entering Kaiba's room as he thought he would with the office. It probably was good that he hadn't walked over to Kaiba Corp. "I'm sure he'll be home soon and has a good reason to stay out so long." Mokuba said and Joey was surprised that he tried to comfort him now.

"I'm not even sure I want him to come home at all." Joey mumbled. "Not until after Christmas."

"Why?" Mokuba asked, obviously surprised.

"I already gave him the worst birthday gift in the history of mankind for his last birthday and now I don't know what to do at all." Joey said and looked down to the ground outside.

"That's funny," Mokuba said, sounding like something truly was amusing. "Seto told me that the preset from you was the best thing he ever got. He didn't want to tell what it was though. And please don't try to tell me now, I doubt I'd want to know."

Joey smiled a little again. "I bet it isn't what you think."

"I fear it is." Mokuba said with a smug smile. "I'm not a kid that doesn't get those things."

"Trust me," Joey said, smiling a little more now. "It obviously isn't what you think. But I still won't tell. It's too crappy and embarrassing."

"I bet he'll like whatever you get him." Mokuba said.

"And if I can't think of anything and got nothing?" Joey asked and added with a little blush: "I don't even know what to get you."

"You already gave me something." Joey looked at him in surprise but was happy to see the by now young man smiling back like he used to do years ago when he was a kid. "You love him. And he's happy. That's all I wish for."

Joey blushed even more. He didn't love Seto after all and was hardly making him happy by still thinking about Valon every now and then. "That isn't really a present." Joey mumbled after a moment.

"Don't worry about the present," Mokuba said. "Tell him that you love him. Nothing can make him more happy than that."

Joey looked even more sad but instead of saying that he couldn't do that, since it would be a lie, he simply said: "That isn't a present either."

"Then make something for him," Mokuba suggested. "Whatever it is, he'll be happy. I used to do that all the time and no matter how bad it was, he always liked it."

"I can't, it would be really bad and I don't have the kid brother status to support me." Joey said but ruffled the others hair a little "Thanks for trying to help, but I doubt that there is a good present I could give him."

Mokuba suddenly laughed and asked: "Ever thought about getting him a doggy costume that fits you?" Joey glared at him but Mokuba just laughed while Joey shifted his focus outside on the ground once again and continued to think about a present for at least one of the brothers.

"What are you two doing here?" A rather cold voice from the bedroom asked. A voice that could only be Seto's and Joey smiled a little, happy that he was finally back and not with someone else for now.

"Sorry, big bro." Mokuba said in a teasing voice. "But your little puppy was just too adorable when missing you like crazy, I just had to flirt a little."

Joey snipped Mokuba's head and said, also slightly teasing again: "First, I'm not a puppy. Second, I didn't miss him. And third, I doubt that a kid even knows how to flirt."

"Yeah, right." Mokuba said. "You just didn't eat dinner again because you were too busy eyeing Seto's empty seat at the table."

Joey pondered over again, Mokuba said. He hadn't noticed how much he ate the previous nights. Just that he hadn't felt very hungry for a while, he wasn't sure why that was though. "I'm not feeling well, that's all." Joey said, trying to talk himself out of it.

Mokuba chuckled a little and said: "Sure, and if you need an advice where you could get that gift we talked about…you know which one, right?…Just talk to me."

"Don't tell me you'd know where to get that." Joey said shocked.

"Like I said," Mokuba started to walk away from Joey and towards the door that would lead him out of the bedroom and back into the hallway. "I'm not a kid anymore and most certainly know how to flirt, you're just too much in love with my big brother to notice anything."

And with that the boy was gone. Seto watched Joey, who still stood outside, slightly blushed and surprised looking, and maybe a tiny bit upset, too. "Now I know what to get him for his birthday," Joey said. "A therapist for those hallucinations."

"I got him something from you already," Seto said. "I thought you might find it hard to think of something."

"Thanks," Joey said and added with a slight blush: "Did you get yourself something from me, too? Because I find that even harder."

Seto smiled a little and walked out onto the balcony to join Joey and said: "I thought Mokuba just gave you an idea."

Joey blushed and cuddled against him, moving his arms around Seto and pulling the blanket Mokuba had given him around him, too. "No freaking way."

"Will you tell me what it is though?" Seto asked.

"I don't think I will." Joey said.

"I'll ask Mokuba, he'll tell me no matter what his young and playful mind thought up." Seto said with a smirk.

"Young and playful," Joey murmured. "What a nice way to describe perverted."

"Come on," Seto whispered and started to kiss Joey's neck, hoping to coax the information out of him. "Tell me."

"Only if you promise to never talk or hint or suggest it in your life." Joey said with a blush.

"That bad?" Seto asked.

"Worse." Joey answered.

"I promise." Seto whispered into Joey's ear and moved his hand under Joey's shirt, happy that the blanket would still keep him warm.

"He said I could get you a dog suit that fits me." Joey said with a blush, happy that Seto now could never suggest that again.

Joey heard him moaning a little and felt himself being pulled closer to Seto. "Remind me to never agree to something like this until I know what I give up."

Joey chuckled a little and said: "I knew you'd be just as perverted as your brother. That's why I made you promise. And now let's go inside, the room is getting cold."

Once inside, Seto whispered: "Would you like me to get you something for myself, so you won't have to bother?"

"Yes," Joey said. "But only if it's not perverted."

"So, no maid's costume?" Seto asked with a smirk on his face. "Not even for when we're on the little holiday I'm planning to give you for Christmas, which is by the way the only reason I'm working late at the moment, I need to prepare that everything will run smoothly when I'm gone."

"I hate you," Joey mumbled for even suggesting a maid´s costume but he still couldn't help but smiling at him. How could he not, now that Seto was finally home and with him.

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to Angel the Neko, Angel Dove1, Keedra2173, lilgurlanima, sherabo and CandyassGoth for the reviews.

And next chapter those two silly boys will get together...what do you think, who will say the I love you first?


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Spring had come and gone in no time at all, melting the snow and letting the flowers bloom again, bringing back the heat and the long summer nights. Joey didn't even know where the time had gone. At the start of the year with Seto he had counted every passing day and then the weeks until it had been the months he´d counted, before simply noticing the change of season without wasting much thoughts about it.

But now he was standing in a shop wanting to buy something small with the credit card from Seto, the only problem was that he couldn't buy it since the card was expired. It was expired for a whole week without Joey even noticing that it had expired. The year was over and he hadn't even noticed.

Joey walked out of the shop, confused about how he could have missed the day that he would finally be free again. The day he had waited for impatiently at the start of a year that looked like it might never end.

Before Joey knew it, he was in the park and walked around it, still unable to tell how the time had gone by so suddenly. He lay down on the bench where he and Kaiba had the first big fight after Joey had signed the contract. He looked up at the clouds but hardly saw them this time. All he saw was the blue sky. A blue that couldn't come close to the beauty of Seto's eyes.

He simply lay there and thought about what had happened in the last couple of weeks or rather what happened in the last few months with Seto. The months that had been full with other stuff, making him more or less forget the contract he was bound to, while he had gotten so used to Seto that he didn't noticed his presence but always noticed when he was home late.

The time had passed so fast that Joey hadn't even noticed that he had gotten over Valon, until he had found out the little secret of what Mai got out of the wedding that Joey had found so painful to attend that it seemed silly to him now. A year ago the revelation of that secret would have hurt like someone had cut out his heart. But three weeks ago when May had told him it was nothing even remotely like that. He was still feeling a bit jealous but not because she had Valon, but because she had more of a family than he ever had, since his mother had left. He wasn't jealous of Valon or Mai, he was jealous of the child that was growing inside of her and becoming a mother that even would go against her very nature just to have that child.

That was what Valon had promised. Or rather that she got out of doing it, since it was rather a threat Valon had used. She had wanted a baby and Valon had said he wouldn't stop using a condom until he was married.

Even if it was just a memory now, Joey still chuckled at the reply he had given Mai when she told him that on the phone. "You should have found him a wife then and seduce a married man. Would be more like you than being the little wife yourself."

Mai had found it ridiculous since she had actually offered Valon that option, only to get a death glare like she insisted even Kaiba couldn't pull off. Joey really doubted that it was even possible but he could understand that Valon wouldn't like that reply. Either way, he had gotten what he wanted in the end and now Mai would get the child she had longed for. The child that most certainly would always be loved. Mai might seem wild and even like a loner at times but she craved company and longed for someone to love her and that she could love in return and Joey was sure that she would be a kick ass mum.

Joey wondered if he could ever be a good father. That was if he could manage to find a boyfriend that would adopt some kid with him. Joey wondered if he should ask Yami if he and Seto had taken care of a child back in Egypt but decided against asking right away. He still hadn't asked Yami about anything of his former life. He had chosen that it didn't matter, since this was the life he was living and not that one back in Egypt and there was no point in dwelling on a past that was long forgotten and nothing but dusk now.

Joey stayed where he was for what seemed to be ages, wondering what he should do now. His father was doing much better. He hardly ever said that he missed Joey and even got a girlfriend he met through the anonymous alcoholics. She was a little younger than him but not much. She was sober for five years now and had helped him at the start until they had fallen in love with each other.

They wanted to move together and even though Joey had only gotten to know her very little, he thought she seemed to be rather nice. The only problem was that Joey would feel bad to move back in with his father, when he finally managed to get his life organised again after his first wife had left him.

Joey closed his eyes, trying to think of what to do next. He should go to Kaiba and demand his money. But somehow he couldn't, somehow all he could think about doing for now was to pretend he still hadn't noticed how much time had passed or that the card had expired. He was just thinking of walking back to the mansion and pretending nothing hat happened, when he felt something being dropped on top of him. He opened his eyes and sat up startled. He was surprised to see Kaiba standing in front of him and the light of the sun reflect in his brown and silk like smooth hair.

Joey looked at the folder that was lying on his lap where Kaiba had dropped it. He looked too upset to notice what it was. He wouldn't have to go back to the mansion. In the folder was the contract that had been signed by both of them and behind it were the documents for a bank account on Joey's name. On the account were three million dollars. Joey stared at it, unable to look into the blue eyes that he felt watching him.

"I heard that you tried to buy something," Kaiba said. "I guess there is no point in pretending that the year isn't over. You must have noticed now."

_Fucking spying security guy, why did he have to tell Kaiba every freaking boring unimportant detail? _Joey thought, upset that he couldn't just walk back and pretend nothing had changed during this day at all.

"I'll miss you," Seto said and turned to leave. But before he walked a single step he said: "You can go to the mansion to get everything you officially own now whenever you want to."

Joey looked up but only saw him walking away. His white coat blown up a little at the bottom by a gentle summer breeze. He watched his hair moving a tiny bit with the breeze but unable to mess it up before the hair went back into place perfectly. Joey stayed where he was for another while and didn't move till the sun was about to set.

He didn't want to go to his dad and so he walked to Yugi's place. He wasn't sure why, but he felt too down to look at his father´s face. He felt like a piece of him had walked away with Kaiba. He wasn't in pain. Neither physically nor emotionally. He simply felt dead when he rang the bell and waited for one of the two look-alikes to open the door for him. It was the shorter one who stood in front of him. "Joey. How nice…"Yugi stopped, saying whatever it was he was about to say. He looked at his friend in surprise before he grabbed Joey's arm to gently guide him inside, while asking: "What happened?"

"I don't know." Joey said quietly and in a voice that sounded too calm to him, while he allowed himself to be lead to the living room. He remembered someone saying that dying was easy while living was hard. Maybe that's why he sounded so calm and peaceful. Maybe he was more dead than alive right now. All he knew was that it wasn't easy. Something was wrong and he couldn't even put his finger on it yet. "Can I stay for the night?"

"Did you fight with Kaiba?" Yugi asked worried. "Did he hurt you? Joey, please, what's wrong?"

"I don't know." Joey repeated and looked to the floor, trying to figure out why Yugi looked like something was freaking him out completely. Maybe he looked as dead as he felt.

"Come sit down," Yugi ordered and Joey noticed Yami leaving the room. He noticed that but didn't comment on it. He didn't even wonder why he left. He simply didn't care. All he knew was that the picture of Kaiba walking away was still in front of his eyes and refused to leave him in peace. "Do you need something?" Yugi asked, still looking worried.

Part of Joey wondered if he should go to the bathroom and check if he really looked as bad as Yugi seemed to think but the bigger part still was stuck on the image of Kaiba leaving and his legs refused to move, while his lips stayed silent. Unable to find words that were capable of describing the turmoil in his head.

"Leave him," Joey heard Yami saying in a gentle voice. He hadn't even noticed him walking back into the room "Give him some time."

Joey found a hot chocolate placed in his hands but didn't move. He noticed Yami trying to take the folder out of his hands and didn't even care enough about the embarrassment to stop him. From the corner of his eyes Joey saw Yami looking through it and saw the frown on his face but he simply put it down, shaking his head when Yugi tried to take it, stopping him effectively from finding out.

Part of Joey knew why. Yami wanted to protect Yugi from the truth. He didn't want him to worry as much as Yami himself probably worried. But Joey didn't even care about that. He knew that he should but he couldn't find the strength in him to care.

It was quiet for a long time, until Yami said quietly: "Could you go and find some covers and pillows for Joey?"

Joey saw Yugi nod and wondered if Yami would start talking about the contract now. But instead all he asked was: "You do know that he loves you?" Joey managed to give a tiny nod. "Then you should know that you can always go back to him." It was quiet again while Joey's mind seemed to be incapable of processing that thought. He couldn't go back, the contract that bound him to Kaiba was over. He was free to go wherever he wanted to go. Just that he had no idea where that should be yet. Joey heard Yugi walking back into the room but didn't look up to look into his eyes. He stayed motionless, while Yami said: "Think about it, Joey."

Yami took the cup that Joey hadn't even touched yet away from him and placed it on the table while taking the pillows from Yugi and pushed Joey onto them to lay down. Yami covered him like a kid that couldn't do anything at all while Joey simply stayed motionless. He felt more dead than ever, it was like he really was dying, losing all his strength. Right now he didn't even know how he had found the strength to walk all the way from the park to Yugi's nor did he know why he walked that distance. The feeling of lose increased by the second and it was like it started to consume Joey. Like he couldn't live without the part that Seto had taken with him this late afternoon, when he left Joey behind in the park.

Joey heared Yugi asking: "Should we call Seto?"

"NO." Joey nearly screamed and moved his upper body up again.

"Calm down," Yami said in a calm voice. "We won't, not until you're ready for it. Just sleep."

Joey let himself drop again. He wasn't sure why he didn't want them to call Seto. Why he didn't want him to come over, to talk to Joey before walking out this door. Leaving him behind again. Reaching that thought he suddenly knew. He did want them to call Seto to come over. He wanted to see him, but he didn't want to see him leaving again.

He wasn't sure if Seto would stay with him or take him home again. "Home." Joey mumbled quietly when he reached that train of thoughts, seeing two pairs of eyes moving onto him while he remembered how Seto had wanted him to consider the mansion his home. Now that he lost it, he did think of it that way.

"Come Yugi," Joey heard Yami saying really quiet, obviously trying to calm Yugi. "He'll be fine again once he gets out of this. I told you it would come. It's the same as it was back then. The year is over."

"Are you sure he'll be fine?" Yugi asked. "Did Kaiba do something?"

"He didn't plan this," Yami said. "And I bet he's in just as much pain as Joey is."

Hearing that shocked Joey to the core. But he must be right. Seto loved him so much that he'd gone through so much trouble just to help him. He simply hadn't shown the pain when he walked away and since Joey hadn't looked into his eyes, he hadn't seen it and only focused on his own feelings when watching him walking away, but what were those feelings. Joey simply got used to him. But he didn't return Kaiba's feelings, did he? But why did it hurt so much when he left? Why did he feel the urge to run and make him forget that pain forever? Why did he want to be there for him? He didn't love him, or did he? Was love the reason that he felt like dying the second Seto walked away? Was love the reason that he couldn't eat when Seto had a late night? Was love the reason that the thought of Seto being with someone else was too unsettling to even put it into words? Was love the reason that Joey longed to feel those strong arms, even though he never needed anyone to be strong for him? Was love maybe even the reason that he had always hated to be looked down on from Seto? Joey had never felt this way about anyone. Not even about Valon. But right now all this questions seemed much more likely to be true love to Joey, than the liking for a wild nature and adventures with Valon that had passed so quickly.

Joey jumped up from the couch and ran. He ran to his Seto, to the one who held his heart. He didn't even remember to say thanks to Yami, who said: "Told you, he'll get around." Obviously talking to Yugi. He didn't take the time to grab the folder, not caring about the money at all. The only thing he wanted was to be with Seto. He ran as fast as he could through the city and all the way to Seto's mansion, not slowing down for anything especially not the slight pain in his muscles that he only half-heartedly felt after running around one corner after the other. He was so focused on his goal that he didn't even hear the breaks of the car that luckily missed him by an inch, when he crossed a street without looking.

Once he saw the endless driveway he ran only faster, driving his muscles to the limit and longing to see the blue eyes and cure the pain that must be hidden in them behind a mask of ice right now.

Joey ran inside, only slowing when he got close to the bedroom door. No one stopped him, no one said a word as he ran though the door that was opened before he even rang the bell since one of the maids had still been looking out for him to return home. Kaiba hadn't been able to say that this was no longer Joey's home or that he wouldn't return tonight. Joey slowly sneaked inside the room, hardly making a sound. But Kaiba's ears took in everything. Perfect like always. He turned with a look like he was about to kill someone that changed the second he saw who was standing in his bedroom door. Joey looked into those eyes and saw the pain mingled with surprise and longing. He wasn't sure what to say. He hardly had noticed that he might have feelings for Kaiba that went far beyond simple love. Seto was his life. He himself was what had been missing ever since he had walked away from him. A simple "I love you" didn't sound sufficient to declare those emotions. But Joey knew that he didn't need to find the right words. Seto had learned to read him, just as well as he could reed him by now. They had become one during the year that had passed, moving on from walking over eggshells to joke with each other effortlessly. The way the pain in Seto's eyes seemed to melt just because of what he saw in Joey's eyes right now, were prove for that.

Joey knew that all he needed to do to feel Seto pulling him close to himself, was saying a few words. All he needed to do to end up back in his own bed that he shared with Kaiba and to feel the others arms around him where they belonged, was one simple sentence and maybe a smile. All that he needed to do to feel Seto making passionate love to him that went so far beyond simple sex that it was like the sun in comparison to a firefly and that over and over again until the sun would rise, was to say "You aren't going to get rid of me this easily."

Joey knew that he was right, when he felt Seto's arms around himself and their body's pressed against each other. Joey felt Seto's passion in the way he touched him. He saw his love in his eyes and heard the understanding they had learned for each other in Seto's slightly joking tone, when he whispered: "Took you long enough to figure that out." And Joey knew as certain as that the night would turn into day, that nothing in the world would ever be able to separate them again.

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><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to Nagareboshi-Lover, ShutUpAndWrite, CandyassGoth, lilgurlanima, BrowneyedShamer and Angel the Neko for the reviews.

I originally wanted to end the story here. But since there were still a lot of open questions like why Seto hadn't done anything to get Joey before and such I wrote an Epilogue from his perspective. It will also be mentioned what they did on the trip he organized for Christmas. Just for the fun of it.


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Seto sat in his limousine on his way home. It was late and he wondered if Joey was already asleep. Tomorrow would be their anniversary in living together and Seto could hardly wait to take his hot boyfriend to the little island he had bought him the previous year and spend a whole week there, celebrating their three years living together and two years being together anniversaries the same way they did the year before. The plane ticket was bought and Seto's yacht was ready. Some employees that checked on the little house on the little island had already stocked the fridge with plenty of food that should even get Joey through the week.

He loved taking Joey on a holiday, ever since he took him out for christmas before they even had gotten together. Seto had booked a nice little cabin for them in the mountains to teach his blond lover how to ski. He assumed that Joey would love to ski down a mountain and would also enjoy drinking hot chocolate with cream in front of the fireplace in the evenings. Seto himself had enjoyed the fact that Joey still couldn't ski and most of the whipped cream ended up on Joey's body, instead of in his hot chocolate. Seto felt even more smug about the fact that he took Joey there every year now and that he still couldn't even put on his skies, never mind ski down the mountain.

Some might think it funny that they lived together for three years but didn't get together until about one year and one week later. But it was all due to a contract.

Seto could still remember how it all had started like it was just yesterday. Seto had been on a business related party and bored out of his mind when he overheard some perverted guys talk about their lovers. One mentioned that he frequently picked someone off the street and found a real treat there. Some guy who was young and hot, still a little muscular and with wild blond hair. Seto didn't really care and was about to move away when the other mentioned that Joey was really wild and had lots of hot scars on his sexy body. The name had coaused Seto to listen a little closer. Hoping that it wasn't the Joey that he so desperately had tried to forget. The hot blond that was glued to that god damn Yugi and loved a moronic biker that was dating a woman that was like a sister to the blond and would never love him back. Seto wasn't sure if it could be the same. There must be countless guys out there that fitted to that description and he had a detective to check up on Joey four times a year to make sure that he was still all right. If the idiot had missed something this vital, his head would roll.

Even years after that night Seto still got aggravated at the thought of what that idiotic guy had all missed, at least he knew that he would never work as a detective again. He had known that Joey's father didn't work and Joey was having a hard time to cope with the money he earned but that he did cope and got better at that. Seto remembered the shock he had felt when he drove through the street where this blond Joey could be found sometimes, certain that it must be someone else but unable to just forget about it. Now Seto was happy that he had driven through that street. Joey was standing there. His Joey.

Seto had immediately done everything he needed to do, to get Joey off that street for the moment and to find out how long this was going on and why it was going on. He told one of his two security guards in the front to talk to Joey and distract him, by asking for a price long enough for the second to get out of the car unnoticed. Then Joey should be let inside and the security guard that talked to Joey was to stay with them, while the other should find out more about this. Seto gave the second one a few thousand dollar, that should be plenty of money to loosen the right tongues.

Seto still remembered the feeling of Joey on his lap that night and his lips. But he also remembered the shock that crossed Joey's face when he recognised who was with him. He remembered how nervous Joey was to be with him and the look on Joey's face whenever he tried to get away in his mind, probably thinking of Valon and then even telling him the most ridiculous lies about his thoughts. But most of all Seto remembered the shock of not only finding old scars but also bruises on Joey's perfect body once they where at the mansion. That was the moment where Seto had chosen to help him and made sure that Joey would stay the night for now. Already thinking about ways to help him.

Seto knew back then that he should have just given him money to stop him from doing all that but he couldn't live with that. Joey was standing in his room, half naked and willing to do whatever Seto wanted for the right amount of money. Who wouldn't understand that Seto simply couldn't just let him go without another kiss and after that, he simply had to have more and more and more of that amazing feeling he got from one little kiss, never mind after what had happened in the limousine. Seto soon learned that Joey's face looked the best when he was truly pleasured. The blush on his face, the clouded look in his eyes were amazing. And Seto couldn't get enough from that look. He made Joey look at him to further enjoy that look and to make sure that it wouldn't be to easy for Joey to think of anyone but him.

The next weeks had been hard. First talking Joey into signing a contract that would force him to stay with Seto for a year and then helping him to get his father into a new apartment. That was the worst at the start. The old guy smelled of alcohol and looked only half coherent when they went to Joey's old appartment. The guy was a mess and filthy and the apartment they used to share was nothing but one filthy room with a cooker in one corner, one mantras in another corner and a couch. There was a tiny bathroom attached, so small that you nearly needed to go into the tiny shower to take a piss. It was the worst. Hardly anything from there could still be used and Seto was glad to be out of it and he still remembered the fury he felt, when the old drunkard had looked everywhere for alcohol once they were at the new place. His own son was secretly selling his body, working his butt off in a restaurant and unable to study, because his father drank away his savings and he still went on looking for more alcohol.

Seto had tried to get Joey out of the room with success and told his dad that Joey would stay with him for at least a year and that Seto would do anything to make him stay longer and that if he would drink just one drop, he would rather kill the old fool than letting Joey return to a man who only saw his own pain but not the one Joey was in nor the bruises he was hiding, or the trouble he's having cleaning up his father´s mess. Seto had told the old fool that it had been his job to help Joey over loosing his mother and sister and not Joey's to clean up the mess it left and help his old drunken father, unable to study or live his own life, just because his father was drunk and Joey was too good to leave him behind. Seto had told the old man to his face how much he despised him for hurting Joey and that he would deserve to lose Joey forever and that if Seto had any say in it, Joey would never return to him. This must have been good because ever since that day, the old Wheeler hadn't had a drop. Seto had kept an eye on him but the old man didn't even try to drink anymore. He finally had gotten the point and found the motivation to quit.

Seto had tried to give Joey time from then on. To get used to him but that had been hard. Joey was just too sexy to be true, especially when lying in bed with noting on but his boxers. More than once he wanted to molest the hot blond. They also had fought throughout the year, a few times and it always had hurt but it also felt good to be able to fight with Joey. Every couple fights sometimes and Seto knew that they both had a tamper that boiled up easily. But only two of the fights in the first year were really bad. One where Joey had fallen asleep in the park and Seto had been terrified to lose him so soon and said some things that angered the blond so much that for a moment Seto was sure to lose him forever. The other fight was where Joey had been pissed, simply because Seto wanted to be a part of his life. He had shown up in the game shop where he knew Joey was and simply wanted to watch Joey's cute face and hear his voice but Joey had been really pissed. Seto still didn't dare to intrude on Joey and his friends, unless Joey asked him if he wanted to join them. But Seto had to admit that Joey might have a point, he needed some space too but Seto hadn't known that his friends always talked bad about him. He knew they would sometimes but not that often.

There was one other really bad thing happening in that time. Mai and Valon had gotten married. Seto could still remember the pain in Joey's eyes whenever the topic arose and at the wedding it had been the worse. He had smiled the whole time but Seto could see the pain that was hidden so well that nearly no one noticed. And Seto was impressed by the strength that was shown in that action. Joey was always strong, for family and friends while Seto just wanted to kill the whole lot just to have Joey to himself. Mai was the worst of them all. Sure, Valon was the one who was dangerous to Seto since Joey loved him, but Mai was the mean one. She knew that Joey loved Valon or at least assumed it and even told Joey those assumptions but she still made him go through that day, just because she wanted him there.

The worst part of that year had been where Joey had looked up at Seto during the wedding, obviously about to beg for something. The pain wasn't hidden for once and Seto knew what he longed for. He wanted Valon, at least touching him one time to congratulate him but maybe he wanted more. Seto still didn't know, since he told himself that Joey just wanted to congratulate Valon and nothing else. He didn't want to hear that it was more and offered immediately that he was free for the night. Hoping that Joey might feel a bit of gratitude, which would ultimately be helpful and knowing that Joey couldn't do too much, since his friends thought he and Seto were together and Valon was married now and not too much of a danger, due to that. Seto knew that he might destroy the little hope he had, if Joey tried one last desperate act to get Valon but the slightly happy and mostly relived smile on Joey's face was already worth the risk, since it wasn't likely anyway.

The year wasn't all bad though. There were a lot of nice moments, like lying in the garden and just be together. Or when they talked at night, without fighting, mostly about Joey's father. Those moments were always perfect. Especially since one of those talks made Joey kiss Seto like he really meant to kiss him. Not like he had to but like he wanted to. One thing had lead to the next that night and Seto will always remember the first night where he didn't have a feeling like Joey didn't want to be pleasured by him. The first night where he had picked Joey off the street it was business to the blond and he tried to think of an other. He was pleasured that much was clear, but he didn't like it and had tried to think of Valon all the time, that was clear to Seto.

But that night, after the soft kiss, Joey was truly his. Seto had felt it in the way Joey had clung to him, like he would never let go again. The look in Joey's eyes had been even better than the first time around and Seto was unable to look away. This night it felt like Joey was nearly too pleasured at times to keep his eyes open but Seto couldn't stop looking into them and told him to keep them open, just so he could see the clouded look in them. By now he didn't need to say it, Joey knew what he liked and gave it willingly. At least most of it. Seto thought about a day close to their first Christmas together, while he finally reached the mansion and walked inside. Mokuba was there on that day close to christmas and talked about some presents with Joey. Seto had promised that whatever perverted thing his brother had come up with, he would never hint at it or anything. Seto still regretted agreeing to that, since he really would have loved to see his Joey dressed up like the adorable little puppy he is. But so far Seto hadn't even been able to talk him into dressing like a sexy maid. But that didn't mean that he gave up.

And Seto could at least try to sweet talk Joey to stop by at the office again. Joey refused to do that, since Seto had seduced him there once and left the door unlocked. Seto still remembered the strange looks he had gotten during the next few days and was sure that everyone knew that he had sex in his office on that beautiful day and he still was proud of that. Everyone knew already that he was dating Joey at the time, since he had informed the security that Joey could always come and visit him or wait for him in his office and go wherever he wanted to inside of Kaiba Corp. but those looks made it official for Seto that they all knew that Joey was truly his and his alone.

Seto walked into his room and was happy to finally be with his littly puppy, not that he dared to call him that, since it would only make them fight again. Once he was inside of his room, he saw that Joey was still awake. He lay there on his stomach, the thin blanket down to just above his hip. One of his hands was under his chin and his eyes were focused on a book that was in his other hand. Seto smiled at the blond who was so focused on the book that he didn't even hear Seto enter. He loved his books and had written one himself by now and it was increasing in popularity quickly. Seto was the first to read it and impressed by his talent for writing.

Seto walked closer and gave the blond a kiss on his back. He kissed his back just above the blanket. He knew that Joey loved it and was rewarded with a happy moan from his sexy lover. "You're late," Joey said accusingly.

"Couldn't be helped," Seto said. He knew perfectly well that Joey didn't like him to be late and it was rare that Joey would sleep before he was back, since he didn't seem to be able to sleep without Seto being close. A fact that Seto was incredibly proud of, even though Joey refused to admit it.

"Why were you late again?" Joey asked, obviously jealous again and pulling Seto on the bed with him, even though Seto was still fully dressed.

"I had to prepare everything for the week off I planned with you." Seto said with a smile. He saw the love and devotion in Joey's eyes and that was more than he ever dared to hope for. The first time Seto had seen a little hint of it the night where Joey was pissed that Seto was intruding into his life too much. He had also said that he had to think about Seto all the time but back then there was a very real possibility that that it was wishful thinking and those thoughts weren't quiet the same as Seto's and most likly much less flattering. But Joey's eyes had looked like he was in love but didn't want it to be real. Like he was afraid of such an unknown and dangerous feeling. A feeling that could hurt worse than anything else. No weapon or torture could hurt more than love and Seto knew that all too well, since that one night in the park where Joey had said that he would never get anything but his body.

"Fuck the bloody company, ya have plenty of money." Joey mumbled but Seto was sure that he didn't mean it. At least not completely. He understood that Seto needed that job to feel complete. It had become his life to an extend and Seto would never risk losing it. Not unless he could save either Mokuba's or Joey's life with giving it up but nothing less than that could ever stop him from going in to work. He needed something to do, a goal and his company always offered a new goal to achieve.

"You know I won't do that. And you know why." Seto said and kissed the blond, trying to calm him a little. His temper could still be quite a handful and no month had passed so far without them fighting with each other, at least a little. But Seto enjoyed those fights because after every fight they could make up. But it wasn't just the fact that he got sex then that made him love it, even though that surely was a very enjoyable part of it. He loved making up because every time they did, Seto was reminded how much Joey would do for him. He fought but no matter how bad that fight got, Joey stayed with him. Not once since the contract hat ended and Joey had gotten the money had he said that he wanted to go. Seto saw not only while making up that Joey loved him but even during their fights it was visible to him. It was clear in the way Joey seemed to be incapable of looking away from Seto's eyes, like he was afraid to miss whatever was shown in them. Joey was always standing close to him and no matter how close they got to kill each other, Seto still saw love and devotion in Joey's eyes, mingled with the anger that was flared by his temper.

Seto felt Joey starting to undress him with a wicked grin and a whispered: "Maybe I just need to give you the right tempting arguments to make you stay with me all day long."

Seto grinned back a little and whispered: "You´ve got a week to show me those arguments as detailed as you please. Preferably looking like a maid."

"I hate you." Joey said and kissed Seto passionately, proving his words to be lies. Which was the reason neither one had ever said "I love you" to the other. Seto was sure of it. Their words could lie. But the kisses Joey gave him right now, his hands pulling in Seto's hair to move him even closer and his eyes that were so full of love and devotion even in a fight, they could never lie. They were the living prove of their undying love and no words were capable to ever be as true and pure as those actions would always be.

* * *

><p>Authors note:<p>

Thanks to sherabo, BrowneyedShamer, Guptanation, Nagareboshi-Lover, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai, lilgurlanima, CandyassGoth and Angel the Neko for the reviews.

And thanks to everyone who reviewed so far and still will write a review and to everyone who faved it. I also would like to thenk everyone who read the whole story I'm glad you liked it *hug*

I also started a new story already. A rewrite of dogsitter and it will have a surprise for Seto on the 25th of October. If you like a funny puppyshiping story where a dog will drive Joey crazy and get him together with Seto then you'll love it.

Bye and hope you all had as much fun reading this as I had writing it.


End file.
